Bolton where seemingly the better side throughout the game and the decision which eventually produced the matchwinner was harsh on the hosts to say the very least.

Substitute centre half Lubomir Michalik, making a rare appearance for the season, was adjudged by the linesman to have handled the ball in the area when it was clear that the Slovakian international had taken the ball on his chest.

The Wanderers players surrounded the officials to try and get clarity as to why the decision had been given and this lead to goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen being booked by referee Howard Webb for protesting.

Elano tucked away the resulting penalty to send the strong 5,000 plus City crowd into raptures and left Bolton wondering where their next piece of luck was going to come from.

A Gavin McCann header off the line by City's Michael Ball, a crucial miss by Danny Guthrie and an El-Hadji Diouf free kick all made for an exciting Bolton finish to the second half after the first period was a pretty drab affair.

Former Bolton player Didi Hamann and his central midfield partner Michael Johnson had early chances from range for City which failed to test Wanderers keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen with the best two chances of the opening half coming towards the interval.

Some neat interplay in the City midfield released Irish midfielder Stephen Ireland but the youngster saw his effort cleared to safety by Abdoulaye Meite despite having beat Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal.

Meite was nearly the saviour at the other end too when heading a right wing Danny Guthrie cross just wide of Andreas Isaksson's right hand post after the City defenders had only half cleared.

The visitors started the second half quite strongly and their skipper Richard Dunne went close with a foray into the Bolton penalty area. However, Dunne's header went wide of the mark and this gave the Wanderers the momentum to kick on.

Stelios Giannakopoulos was having a good game for the hosts and he tested City keeper Isaksson with a 25-yard effort which left the Swede asking questions of his defence.

Lone striker Diouf saw his effort flash wide after he had twisted and turned the City defence inside out and there was a sense at this middle point in the closing half that the Trotters could progress through to the next phase of the competition.

The miss of the game came when the on-loan Guthrie was put through by Nolan in a one on one situation against Isaksson but he was to fire straight at the Mancunians goalkeeper when it seemed easier to score.

With just over a quarter of an hour of the game to play City lost their influential England defender Micah Richards with what looked to be quite a serious injury which required the centre half to go off on a stretcher.

Elano scored the matchwinner on 85 minutes thanks to a little help from the officials but the game was not over as Diouf curled a free kick against the bar and McCann saw his effort headed off the line by his ex-Everton team mate Michael Ball in the dying moments.

Bolton must now pick themselves up for an important trip to West Ham United this Sunday and this will then be followed by a trip to Bayern Munich a week tommorow.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joey O'Brien (Lubomir Michalik), Andy O'Brien, Abdoulaye Meite, Jlloyd Samuel, Danny Guthrie, Kevin Nolan, Gavin McCann, Mikel Alonso, Stelios Giannakopoulos (Daniel Braaten), El-Hadji Diouf

SUBS NOT USED: Gary Speed, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

MANCHESTER CITY: Andreas Isaksson, Vedran Corluka, Micah Richards (Nedum Onuoha), Richard Dunne, Michael Ball, Javier Garrido (Darius Vassell), Didi Hamann (Gelson Fernandes), Michael Johnson, Stephen Ireland, Elano, Georgios Samaras

SUBS NOT USED: Rolando Bianchi, Joe Hart (GK)

ATTENDANCE:

15,510

REFEREE:

Howard Webb

BOOKED:

Diouf (Bolton)

Ireland (Man City)

Meite (Bolton)

Jaaskelainen (Bolton)

Vassell (Man City)

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