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Bolton Wanderers 0. Portsmouth 1.

Grzegorz Rasiak Fires In
By Mark Heys February 9 2008
Bolton Wanderers crashed to defeat by a solitary goal at home to Portsmouth this afternoon but the result at the Reebok Stadium failed to tell a true picture of the game with the hosts having dominated for large periods throughout the contest.

Bolton looked the better team during the ninety minutes and should have got something out of the game but Pompey had their England goalkeeper David James to thank for putting in an excellent display.

The Wanderers recalled El-Hadji Diouf to the starting line up at the expense of last week's matchwinner Heidar Helguson and former Portsmouth duo Andy O'Brien and Matthew Taylor faced their old club for the first time since their moves to Bolton earlier on in the season.

Bolton went on the attack from the first whistle and striker Kevin Davies tested veteran stopper James as early as the fourth minute when firing in a shot on the turn.

A few minutes later Taylor tried his luck with a free kick from the edge of the area but the midfielder was unable to keep his effort down and the ball sailed over into the North Stand.

It was all the home side in the first half with Bolton having most of the possession and chances and Pompey unable to test home goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Frustrations came to the fore shortly before the half hour mark, with Pompey's injured defender Noe Pamarot taking an age to leave the pitch for treatment despite being only a couple of yards from the touchline.

Eventually the French full back was withdrawn from the action and his place taken by recent signing Lucien Aubey in a like for like change.

Then moments later, a midfield tussle between Bolton's Danny Guthrie and Pompey's Lassana Diarra resulted in Diarra taking exception to the challenge and respective team mates had to step in to diffuse the matter.

Referee Peter Walton rightly booked Guthrie for a dangerous challenge from behind and left Diarra with a warning and a cooling off period.

Bolton should have got their noses in front on 31 minutes, Davies made a fine darting run down the right flank before lying the ball on a plate for Taylor to score, but somehow the player managed to lift the ball over the top.

Then moments later Taylor's blocked shot found its way across to skipper Nolan on the edge of the area and the midfielder was unlucky to see his effort just go wide of James' left hand post.

Quite how Bolton hadn't managed to score in the first half was a mystery and it proved to be a case of more of the same when the sides came out for the second period.

Pompey replaced the disappointing Milan Baros with Nwankwo Kanu and this change did help breathe that little bit more life into the visiting side as far as attacking was concerned.

However it was ex-Pompey favourite Taylor who once again wasted a good opportunity at the near post after El-Hadji Diouf and Gretar Steinsson had engineered the opportunity down the right flank.

It took Harry Redknapp's men 48 minutes to have a serious shot on goal with substitute Aubey getting forward well only to steer the ball over the target.

Front man Davies worked hard for Bolton throughout the game but he will be disappointed with his 53rd minute effort which hit the legs of James after the Pompey defensive line had failed to play the offside trap.

In an attempt to freshen things up the Wanderers introduced their new striker Grzegorz Rasiak for his debut and the Polish international nearly got on the scoresheet within minutes of coming on the field only to see his speculative volley beaten away by the defiant James.

Bolton continued to press for an opener and with twenty minutes left to play defender Gary Cahill nearly netted on his home debut  only for the close range shot to be cleared off the line by the much travelled Hermann Hreidarsson.

Jermain Defoe was kept relatively quiet all afternoon by the Wanderers rearguard but on 72 minutes the striker found himself through on goal only for Jaaskelainen to show great bravery when sliding in to deny the England international.

The Wanderers continued to push at the other end with the excellent James once again called into action to keep out an acrobatic effort from full back Steinsson.

On 75 minutes French midfielder Diarra gave a taste of what was to come when testing Jaaskelainen with a volley and five minutes later he won the game against the run of play when taking advantage of some sloppy Wanderers defending to fire the ball past the Bolton keeper.

Bolton could have drawn deservedly level right at the death through their substitute Tamir Cohen but James was first to react to force the first time shot from the Israeli midfielder to safety.

It was harsh on the home side for all their efforts and a reminder of why football can be cruel at times but the Wanderers have a quick chance to put it out of their minds with the UEFA Cup first leg tie against Atletico Madrid to come next week.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Gretar Steinsson, Gary Cahill, Andy O'Brien, Ricardo Gardner, El-Hadji Diouf (Grzegorz Rasiak), Danny Guthrie (Tamir Cohen), Ivan Campo, Kevin Nolan, Matthew Taylor (Stelios Giannakopoulos), Kevin Davies

SUBS NOT USED: Jlloyd Samuel, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

PORTSMOUTH: David James, Lauren, Sol Campbell, Hermann Hreidarsson, Noe Pamarot (Lucien Aubey), Richard Hughes, Lassana Diarra, Papa Bouba Diop, Niko Krancjar (John Utaka), Milan Baros (Nwankwo Kanu), Jermain Defoe

SUBS NOT USED: Sean Davis, Jamie Ashdown (GK)

ATTENDANCE:

18,544

REFEREE:

Peter Walton

BOOKED:

Guthrie (Bolton)

Hughes (Pompey)

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