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  • Date:2009-05-24
  • Kick-off:16:00
  • Venue:City of Manchester Stadium
  • Attendance:47202
  • Referee:Clattenburg, M

Live Commentary

90mins

MAN CITY 1-0 BOLTON.

89mins

Bolton corner but Davies' delivery is caught by Given.

84mins

Berti replaces Bridge for Man City.

83mins

Double substitution for Bolton, Elmander is replaced by Riga while Shittu makes way for Andy O'Brien.

81mins

Kompany makes way for Zabaleta for City

79mins

Kompany tries his luck from range but his effort goes high and wide.

78mins

A shot from Wright-Phillips takes a deflection which nearly catches Jaaskelainen out but he just manages to tip the ball over for a City corner.

75mins

Vladimir Weiss has looked lively since coming on for City, the youngster is really trying to stake his place in the City team.

74mins

Wright-Phillips shoots wide, it may have been a cross but either way the chance came to nothing for the home side.

73mins

City win two corners in a row but the Bolton defence manage to clear the danger.

72mins

Chance for City but Caicedo can't direct Richard's headed pass goalwards.

71mins

Manchester City's Stephen Ireland makes way for youngster Vladimir Weiss

70mins

Robinho was pulling out the party pieces before being dumped to the floor by young Chris Basham, City win a free kick.

68mins

A rare mistake from Jaaskelainen looked to have let Robinho through on goal but referee Mark Clattenburg brings play back for a throw in.

65mins

Wright-Phillips capitalises on some poor defending from Samuel and fires a shot into the side netting.

63mins

Mark Davies whips in a corner kick for Bolton but Micah Richards rises highest to clear the danger.

61mins

Robinho gets a shot away after being set up by Wright-Phillips but the ever impressive Jaaskelainen denies the Brazilian again.

59mins

Chris Basham replaces Matt Taylor for Bolton.

58mins

Shaun Wright-Phillips fizzes a cross-come-shot across the Bolton goal but there is no one there to divert it in.

57mins

Steinsson, who has looked very dangerous for the visitors, surges forwards but his cross is cut out at the near-post.

56mins

Robinho fires a vicious effort towards the Bolton goal but there is too much power and not enough accuracy as the ball goes well wide.

54mins

Caicedo tries his luck but his shot goes just wide of the Bolton goal.

53mins

Muamba fires way over from distance, poor effort in all fairness.

51mins

Given punches the corner clear, but only as far as Taylor who volleys goalwards but it goes way over the City crossbar.

50mins

Muamba gets another opportunity with his head but Ireland clears for a corner.

49mins

Caicedo is back on his feet, meanwhile Dunne has just taken the ball off Elmander with Bolton surging forward.

48mins

Decent effort from Fabrice Muamba but he slips as takes his shot and it goes just widen of the City goal.

48mins

Caicedo has taken a knock and there is a stoppage in play, doesn't look good for the City man and the stretcher is on the field.

47mins

Kompany dispossesses Kevin Davies in the early stages as Bolton looked to move forward.

45mins

Bolton get the second half underway at the City of Manchester Stadium.

45mins

MAN CITY 1-0 BOLTON.

41mins

Shaun Wright-Phillips does well to work some space for a shot from the left but Jaaskelainen is makes a decent save.

39mins

Robinho tries his luck after Caicedo set him up but Jaaskelainen makes the save.

38mins

Relegation battle update - Aston Villa have taken the lead against Newcastle, if Newcastle lose they will be relegated.

36mins

Wright-Phillips has a go from range but his effort is blocked for a City corner.

34mins

From a long free-kick Bolton get their best chance so far, the ball falls kindly to Elmander and his shot beats Shay Given but Richard Dunne blocks on the line.

31mins

Great chance for City, Robinho somehow manages to flick the ball over the Bolton defence to Richards but his shot goes just wide.

31mins

An update on the situation at the bottom - Middlesbrough and Hull are both losing so at the moment they will be joining West Brom in the Championship next season.

28mins

Robinho looks to be through on goal after Danny Shittu slipped but Jlloyd Samuel saves the day and clears for a corner.

26mins

A slick counter from City, Robinho hits the post after getting on the end of a great cross from Stephen Ireland.

24mins

Decent shot from Matt Taylor from about 30-yards but it comes off Richards for a corner, which comes to nothing.

21mins

Bolton are really pushing now and City have just had to deal with another corner, the visitors have just seen a penalty appeal waved away by referee Mark Clattenburg.

20mins

I feel I may have been a bit harsh in suggesting the players had their holidays in the back of their minds earlier, this is shaping up to be a good tie now.

17mins

Steinsson wins Bolton a corner, Taylor swings it in and Caicedo clears from under his own bar before Kevin Davies fires wide.

16mins

Great chance for Bolton but Kevin Davies just can't get to Steinsson's cross, the away side are working their way back into this now.

14mins

Kevin Davies' flick just evades Elmander in what would have been a great chance for Bolton.

13mins

Bolton might have started slowly but they're looking to get back into it now, despite having a bit of possesion they still haven't managed a shot yet though.

8mins

MAN CITY 1-0 BOLTON. Great work from Stephen Ireland as he chips the ball forward to Micah Richards, Richards' overhead kick lands at the feet of CAICEDO who has a simple tap-in from six yards.

5mins

Wright-Phillips has the first effort of the day but it goes straight to Jaaskeleinen.

4mins

City are controlling these early stages but with very few chances, looks as if both sets of players have their holiday brochures out already.

2mins

City win two successive corners but Jaaskelainen gathers the ball to halt City's attack.

0mins

The game is underway at Eastlands.

0mins

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Shittu, Samuel, Mark Davies, Muamba, McCann, Taylor, Elmander, Kevin Davies. Subs: Al Habsi, Hunt, Riga, Puygrenier, Cohen, Basham, Andrew O'Brien.

0mins

Man City: Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Bridge, De Jong, Ireland, Kompany, Wright-Phillips, Caicedo, Robinho. Subs: Hart, Zabaleta, Bojinov, Petrov, Mwaruwari, Berti, Weiss.

Match Preview

There is little to play for at Eastlands on Sunday as both Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers are certain to finish in mid-table positions.

It is a disappointing finale for City who have spent big money this season on players like Robinho, Wayne Bridge, Craig Bellamy, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zableta, Nigel de Jong and Shay Given.

They can finish no higher than ninth in the Premier League and will not be involved in European competition next season, but at least the news that Mark Hughes will remain in charge has added a hint of stability to a club that has had its fair share of turmoil in the last decade.

A run to the last eight of the UEFA Cup at least added some enjoyment to a disappointing season but early exits from both the FA and League Cups were not as well received.

Twelve of City's 14 league wins this term have come at Eastlands, where they have not drawn a game in 18 matches to date.

Hughes, who has been told by the club's Abu Dhabi owners that they expect a top-six finish next season, is likely to release a raft of players after Sunday's match as he attempts to cut a big squad.

In contrast, Bolton have one of the smallest squads and budgets in the Premier League but will still finish only a handful of points and places below City.

Gary Megson may not be universally popular at the Reebok Stadium, but he has put together a squad that was never really in grave danger of being relegated and can now look forward to starting the club's ninth successive season in the Premier League in August.

He will once again be without Ricardo Vaz Te (knee) and Ricardo Gardner (hamstring) this weekend, while City's only absentees look set to be Robinho (groin) and Craig Bellamy (knee).


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Match Report

Manchester City may have lost out on a place in next season's Europa League, but they gave their supporters something to cheer as they beat Bolton in their final Premier League fixture.

It was a significant success as it lifted City back into the top half of the table after a turbulent season in which their form has lacked consistency.

And though it was a largely meaningless match, involving two mid-table teams, it proved an entertaining encounter with a feast of attacking football.

City's match-winning goal came in the ninth minute after Robinho and Stephen Ireland worked a quick and well-rehearsed free kick routine.

Ireland floated the ball into the penalty area and Micah Richards fired the ball across the face of goal for Felipe Caicedo to score from close range for his eighth goal of the season.

And City were unlucky not to have built an even larger first-half lead after Robinho struck an upright, while Shaun Wright-Phillips and Richards were both denied by super saves from Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Bolton could well have also got on to the scoresheet in a lively opening period when they had two shouts for penalties rejected, after Caicedo and Vincent Kompany both appeared to handle while Richards cleared a shot from Gary Cahill off the goal-line.

Caicedo, the 20-year old from Ecuador whose place is under threat if City sign a big-name striker in the summer, certainly impressed manager Mark Hughes.

Early in the second half Caicedo cut in from the right and fired narrowly wide from outside the penalty area as City stepped up their bid for a second goal which would have sealed victory.

Wright-Phillips, who made a surprise return after a seven-match lay-off for a knee injury, twice fired narrowly wide while Nedum Onuoha almost burst through on goal after a fabulous solo run.

Hughes handed teenage winger Vladimir Weiss, a Slovakian who is a member of City's FA Youth Cup winning team of 2008, a first-team debut when he replaced Ireland.

Hughes also gave a long-awaited debut to Brazilian defender Leandro Glauber five minutes from time after 20 previous appearances on the bench as an unused substitute.

Try as they did, City found a second goal elusive though that was mainly due to the heroics of Finnish keeper Jaaskelainen.

The keeper showed great athleticism to turn a deflected effort from Wright-Phillips over the crossbar and also to tip over a long-range effort from Robinho, which was destined for the top corner of the net.

Manchester City

Bolton Wanderers

Corners

159

Fouls

810

Goal attempts

208

Shots off target

73

Offsides

31

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