Pereirinha was watched by Manchester United in the first leg at the Reebok Stadium a week ago and the Premiership champions will be impressed at the way in which he put Bolton to the sword.

The Wanderers can be proud of their efforts in the competition because despite leaving a dozen players at home they made a good fight of it but where ultimately lacking in front of goal.

Bolton boss Gary Megson gave Ricardo Vaz-Te his first start since the opening game of the season whilst Stelios Giannakopoulos and goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi kept their places.

Al-Habsi made a couple of good saves in the second half when Sporting applied pressure to further demonstrate that he has all the capabilities to step into the shoes of Jussi Jaaskelainen when required.

Within the first minute Bolton gave away a needless free kick on the edge of the area and striker Simon Vukcevic, who scored the all important away goal for Sporting last Thursday, forced a good save out of Al-Habsi who did well to tip the ball away.

It was clear that Bolton did not arrive just to make up the numbers though and they where ambitious enough to venture forward as was shown on seven minutes when the returning Vaz-Te smashed the ball into the side netting after latching onto a nice through ball by full back Nicky Hunt.

Being the home side, Sporting had a lot of possession, but Bolton worked hard within the first half to make a game of it and the on-loan Danny Guthrie did well with a low shot which forced home goalkeeper Rui Patricio into diverting the ball away for a corner at his near post.

A good team move down the flanks by Sporting meant that they had a golden opportunity to have taken the lead on 31 minutes but the outstretched Marat Izmailov was unable to keep the ball down after good work in the build up from eventual matchwinner Pereirinha and last week's hero Vukcevic.

South American Leandro Romagnoli forced the best save of the night from Al-Habsi with the Bolton stopper at full stretch to deny the Argentina international right at the closing stages of the opening half.

Sporting came out in the second half once again keeping the ball well but as with the first half they had failed to consistently test visiting keeper Al-Habsi.

Brazilian Leidson did manage to work the Oman custodian as the clock ticked down and Lisbon captain Joao Moutinho saw his shot well blocked by Jlloyd Samuel but it wasnt until the last quarter of an hour that the Portuguese side made it count.

Bolton had took off Andranik Teimourian in order to throw on the extra attacker Daniel Braaten whilst youngster Nathan Woolfe was given his senior debut when replacing the tiring Heidar Helguson.

Both of these changes had altered Bolton's shape and despite commiting men forward to try and grab a crucial away goal they where putting themselves under unnecessary pressure at the back and gaps had began to appear.

One such lapse proved costly with five minutes left on the clock when Pereirinha all alone unmarked after cutting in from the right flank, curled a good shot around Al-Habsi just as Bolton had began to beleive that they where getting somewhere in the game.

This took the wind out of Bolton's sails and then the reality struck that the Euro dream was about to end leaving the Wanderers to reflect on what might of been had they been in a position to name their more senior players.

Bolton wont have to wait long to get the disappointment out of their system as they face local rivals Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium on Sunday.

It has been a worthwhile experience for the club to take on some of Europe's elite and no doubt due to their efforts this year, the name of Bolton Wanderers will now be one that is a bit better known by people who didn't know of them previously.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Ali Al-Habsi, Nicky Hunt, Gary Cahill, Abdoulaye Meite, Jlloyd Samuel, Joey O'Brien, Andranik Teimourian (Daniel Braaten), Danny Guthrie, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Heidar Helguson (Nathan Woolfe), Ricardo Vaz-Te

SUBS NOT USED: Zoltan Harsanyi, James Sinclair, Robert Sissons, Scott Jamieson, Ian Walker (GK)

SPORTING LISBON: Rui Patricio, Fernando Abel, Antonio Tonel, Anderson Polga, Leandro Grimi, Joao Moutinho, Bruno Pereirinha, Marat Izmailov (Periera Gladstone), Leandro Romagnoli (Adrien Silva), Simon Vukcevic (Rodrigo Tiui), Da Leidson

SUBS NOT USED: Ronny, Yanick Djalo, Pontus Farnerud, Vladimir Stojkovic (GK)

REFEREE:

Bertrand Layec (France)

ATTENDANCE:

22,031

BOOKED:

Moutinho (Sporting)

Teimourian (Bolton)

Guthrie (Bolton)

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Bolton Wanderers Poll