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  • Date:2007-11-11
  • Kick-off:15:00
  • Venue:Reebok Stadium
  • Attendance:17624
  • Referee:Probert, L

Live Commentary

90mins

Middlesbrough hold off a late surge of Bolton pressure to take a point in a very poor contest between two of the bottom five.

90mins

Stelios whips in a late corner but its headed out in what is the last action of the game.

90mins

The fourth official indicates there will be two minutes of added on time.

89mins

Stelios floats in another corner which Wheater partially clears and then the job is completed by Hutchinson who boots up field.

87mins

Guthrie floats in another corner which Schwarzer punches away to Andranik but his effort is poor, the ball breaking lose to O'Brien who whips in another cross which flies across the face of goal and eventually Schwarzer gathers.

86mins

McCann has a pot shot from just outside the penalty area but his strike goes bobbles wide of Schwarzer goal without bothering the goalkeeper.

84mins

The match is beginning to get very nervy, Andranik unable to even take a throw-in properly as he commits a foul throw.

79mins

Andranik Teimourian comes on for the experienced Gary Speed.

79mins

Guthrie floats in a corner for Bolton but Schwarzer is quick off his line and comes along way to punch the ball clear from danger.

73mins

Downing forces Jaaskelainen into a great save, the England winger taking on Gardener before driving the ball across the face of goal but Jaaskelainen manages to push it away from goal at full stretch.

71mins

Downing strikes a freekick from 25 yards out but its comfortably dealt with by Jaaskelainen who read where Downing was going to put it.

70mins

Jasskelainen is the first goalkeeper forced to make a save, Boateng slides Aliadiere through on goal but the Frenchman's shot is fired at the near post and easy for Jaaskelainen to save low down to his left.

69mins

Campo tries his luck from a freekick thirty yards out but its straight at Schwarzer who catches easily as another chance goes begging.

68mins

Gary O'Neil is booked after kicking the ball away when the decision went against Boro.

68mins

Middlesbrough make their second change of the afternoon with Sanli Tuncay coming off and Ben Hutchinson coming on.

66mins

Bolton lump a ball into the box which Wheater partially heads clear but only as far as McCann who strikes it first time but only sends it over the bar.

63mins

Kevin Nolan comes off and hands the captains armband to Speed as Stelios Giannakopoulos comes on.

63mins

O'Neill swings in a corner towards the nar post where its dealt with easily by McCann who smashes it back to O'Neill who floats in another cross and finds Riggott who just gets something on the ball but can't direct the shot, sending it wide.

60mins

Bolton's corner is swung towards the far post where Davies does well to head it back across goal for Campo who is unmarked and stabs at the ball but sends it wide from just a few yards out.

56mins

Campo tries to slip in Davies with a through ball but puts too much on the pass and Schwarzer easily beats Davies to the ball claiming easily.

54mins

Gardener floats in a cross for davies who heads it down but can only head it behind with a tame effort.

52mins

Guthrie whips in a freekick from wide on the left but its over everyones heads towards the back post where Schwarzer gets up well to claim with a nice catch.

49mins

O'Neill swings in the first corner of the half which is headed away but only as far as Cattermole who strikes it on the volley from 25 yards but only succeeds in spanking it wide of the goal.

45mins

Bolton get the second half underway hoping to break the deadlock here at the Reebok Stadium.

45mins

Lee Probert brings to a close a poor first half which has been low on quality and chances, neither side really troubling either goalkeeper, Davies' effort in stoppage time the closest either side has come.

45mins

Guthrie flicks on a long ball for Davies who controls it on the edge of the penalty area before unleashing a vicious strikes which just bends away and wide of goal for a Boro goal kick.

44mins

The fourth official indicates there will be two minutes of added on time.

42mins

Downing over hits his corner all the way over the top of everyone waiting in the penalty area and the ball sails out for a goal kick.

41mins

David Wheater is booked after Danny Guthrie just got away from the Boro defender and Wheter chopped him down.

40mins

Downing swings in a corner which is nodded away but only as far as O'Neill but his shot is blocked by a host of white shirts as Bolton clear.

36mins

Kevin Nolan is booked after speaking out of turn to referee Lee Probert, silly booking really.

35mins

Campo launches a long throw into the penalty area but its hooked away from danger by Boateng as Bolton begin to apply some pressure.

32mins

O'Neill takes Boro's third corner of the match, swinging it in towards goal but the referee adjudges that Wheater has fouled the goalkeeper and its a Bolton freekick.

29mins

Andrew Taylor is forced off with an injury as Emanuel Pogatetz comes back on, making his return from injury.

26mins

Speed launches a long throw into the Boro penalty area which causes chaos in the box but eventually Riggott is able to nod it away from danger.

21mins

O'Neill puts an inswinging corner into the penalty area for Aliadiere but Jaaskelainen does well to come off his line and claim.

18mins

Downing's corner is flicked on by the head of Wheater who does well to win it but eventually the attack comes to nothing as the Bolton defence clear. McCann has returned to the action.

17mins

Young whips in a very nice cross looking for the head of Tuncay but Meite does well to knock it behind for a Boro corner.

14mins

Speed strikes a freekick from just right of centre, 22 yards out and some of the Bolton fans think he has scored but unfortunatly for Speed it has only hit the side netting.

13mins

Nasty collision between McCann and Boateng results in a horrble looking cut above the eye of McCann who is hurried off for stitches meaning Bolton wll be down to 10-men for the next few minutes.

11mins

The corner finds Speed at the near post who tries to flick it on but can only flick it out of play despite Davies efforts.

11mins

Speed rolls a freekick to Campo who strikes it from around 25-yards out but its quickly closed down by Boateng, the shot deflecting wide for a Bolton corner.

9mins

Guthrie tries his luck from a long way out but like McCann' effort its well off target and doesn't trouble Schwarzer at all.

7mins

Davies does well to work himself some room on the left for a cross into the area which finds McCann just inside the penalty area but the midfielders finish is woeful and goes well wide.

4mins

Cid plays a little chip ball over the top for Davies who tries to head it on for himself into the Boro box but Wheater is across quick to hammer the ball upfield.

2mins

Taylor takes a freekick for Middlesbrough from just inside the Bolton half, but a series of Bolton heads eventually knock it on to Garnder who clears long up field.

1mins

Guthrie swings in a deep freekick from the right but its dealt with early on by Taylor who heads it away from danger.

0mins

Referee Lee Probert checks his watch and get the game underway here at the Reebok with Middlesbrough hoping for a first ever win in the League on Bolton's turf.

0mins

Middlesbrough XI: Schwarzer, Young, Riggott, Wheater, Taylor, O'Neil, Boateng, Cattermole, Downing, Aliadiere, Sanli

0mins

Middlesbrough are missing Jonathan Woodgate and Mido for this bottom five clash. Robert Huth still isn't fit enough to be involved with the Boro 16 but Emanuel Pogatetz does return to the bench.

0mins

Bolton XI: Jaaskelainen, McCann, Meite, Andrew O'Brien, Cid, Guthrie, Nolan, Campo, Speed, Gardner, Davies

0mins

Bolton welcome back Ivan Campo and Abdoulaye Meite to the starting line-up after the Spaniard missed Bolton’s European heroics in mid-week. But the Trotters are still missing Anelka through injury and the suspended El-Hadji Diouf.

Match Preview

Struggling Bolton Wanderers, without a league win since August 25, host Middlesbrough, winless in their last eight, on Sunday afternoon.

The basement battle has been made harder for Bolton over the past week, with injuries and suspensions taking their toll.

Nicky Hunt is the latest casualty for the Lancashire club, having dislocated his shoulder during Bolton's 1-1 draw with West Ham last weekend.

Abdoulaye Meite was also injured in that match, although his knee injury isn't thought to be too serious even if it kept him from playing against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.

Those two join Joey O'Brien, who has injured a hamstring, as well as Christian Wilhelmsson and Nicolas Anelka - all first-team players when fit.

Just to kick new boss Gary Megson when he's down, El-Hadji Diouf is banned from facing Boro after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.

This will force at least three changes to the side that began the credible draw on Sunday, with Jlloyd Samuel, Lubomir Michalik, Gavin McCann and Stelios Giannakopoulos expected to compete for a starting spot.

The Trotters remain solid in defence, not allowing three goals in a game since August, while Arsenal are the only side to have put two goals past them in the last two months.

Middlesbrough have looked anything but watertight at the back, leaking 23 goals in the league - the fourth worst record in the top-flight.

The key to plugging that gap remains Jonathan Woodgate. The former Real Madrid centre-back is expected to be training fully by next week but won't be rushed back into first team action.

Boro at least had two other defenders, Robert Huth and Emanuel Pogatetz, back playing for the reserve side this week and both could be in the squad this weekend.

Egyptian striker Mido will hope to solve their offensive problems, having watched his side score just three times since his initial groin problem in late September.


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Match Report

Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough played out their fourth consecutive Premier League draw at the Reebok Stadium in a low-key affair.

And it means that both sides remain rooted firmly inside the lower reaches of the top flight - and on this evidence they will both be staying there for some time.

While Gareth Southgate's Boro side are hovering just one place above the bottom three, Gary Megson's Bolton outfit are still in it.

It was a forgettable first half in which the home faithful were absolutely convinced that Gary Speed had given Bolton the lead with a left-footed free-kick that just whistled past the right-hand upright.

Some Bolton fans were still celebrating a goal when Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer took the goalkick almost 30 seconds later.

That was just after the quarter hour mark, and from then on the visitors were able to claim some sort of foothold in the game.

The only other chance of the opening 45 minutes came when Bolton's midweek UEFA Cup goal hero Kevin Davies fired just wide after Speed cushioned a long punt forward right on half-time.

From Bolton's point of view, they seemed to be suffering the after effects of their euphoric draw against Bayern Munich on Thursday.

Wanderers had the better of the second half with Ivan Campo - who was recalled to the starting line-up after missing the trip to Bavaria - having perhaps the best opportunity of the game when he poked wide with the goal at his mercy on 61 minutes.

Davies kept a corner alive by lifting it to the back post, where the Spaniard stole in but couldn't convert.

Much like the first half, the Teessiders then came back into the game with Jeremie Aliadiere and Stewart Downing both seeing crisp shots saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Bolton then piled on the late pressure without creating another clear-cut chance to win a disappointing game.

Bolton Wanderers

Middlesbrough

Corners

67

Fouls

1622

Goal attempts

158

Shots off target

91

Offsides

22

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