Sp Lisbon 1 - 0 Bolton Wanderers

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Thursday Mar 13 2008 08:00

Bolton Wanderers bowed out of the UEFA Cup in the round of 16 after losing 1-0 away to Sporting Lisbon to go down 2-1 on aggregate to the Portuguese side.

The tie was all-square at 1-1 after the first leg at the Reebok Stadium, but Trotters boss Gary Megson opted to leave a host of first-team regulars at home for this game, including Kevin Davies, Kevin Nolan, El-Hadji Diouf, Ivan Campo and Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Sporting threatened in the opening minute as Ali Al-Habsi had to push away a Simon Vukcevic free-kick from 20 yards, but the Trotters suffered no further alarms in the opening stages.

Portuguese striker Ricardo Vaz Te had the best chance for the visitors, lashing a shot into the sidenetting after taking down a long ball forward by Nicky Hunt.

The game then became bogged down in a midfield battle, with neither side able to forge a meaningful opening.

However, Sporting should have taken the lead on the half-hour, as Bruno Pereirinha's cross from the right was flicked on and Marat Izmailov lifted his left-foot shot over the top from five yards out at the far post.

Bolton suffered no further alarms up to half-time, but the Trotters still needed to find a breakthrough to avoid joining Everton and Spurs in making an exit from the competition.

After the restart Bolton failed to find any rhythm and rarely got within striking distance of the home goal. Pereirinha tried his luck twice from distance in the early stages, but neither effort threatened to break the deadlock.

A number of substitutions also helped make the game a scrappy affair, before Sporting came to life in the final ten minutes.

Firstly, Liedson passed up with a clear chance from 12 yards, as he drilled his shot straight at Al-Habsi when it looked easier to score after a cutback from the right left him in acres of space.

However, Pereirinha made no mistake with five minutes left to play, as a quick counter-attack sliced the Bolton rearguard wide open and the midfielder cut in from the right to curl a superb left-foot shot into the top far corner of the net from 15 yards out.

That proved to be the killer blow and there was no way back for Bolton despite three minutes of added time.

Live Commentary

  • 90
    Full-Time: SPORTING LISBON 1-0 BOLTON.
  • 90
    England will have no teams in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.
  • 90
    A clash of heads in midfield brings play to a halt.
  • 90
    Into stoppage time and the game looks to be up for Bolton and they can have no complaints about the outcome.
  • 88
    Guthrie brings down Pereirinha on the halfway line and gets booked to add to his woes.
  • 88
    Only a couple of minutes to go for Bolton to rescue the tie and force extra-time.
  • 86
    Moutinho leads another quickfire counter and Al-Habsi has to tip his 25-yarder over the top for a corner.
  • 85
    SPORTING LISBON 1-0 BOLTON, a quick break catches the visitors out and PEREIRINHA cuts in from the right to curl a left-foot shot into the far corner of the net.
  • 84
    Sub Silva curls a right-foot shot a couple of yards wide from 25 yards as Sporting continue to call the shots.
  • 83
    Time is running out now for Bolton and they have offered little threat in the second half.
  • 80
    A cutback from the right provides Liedson with a clear chance from 12 yards, but he drills his shot straight at Al-Habsi when it looked easier to score.
  • 78
    Al-Habsi flaps at a high ball into the area, but the referee has spotted a foul somewhere in the build-up.
  • 76
    Helguson jogs off and Nathan Wolfe comes on for his Bolton debut.
  • 76
    Braaten thinks he has won a corner, but the referee gives a free-kick for a foul on Grimi.
  • 75
    Adrien Silva comes on for Romagnoli for the home side.
  • 72
    Less than 20 minutes to go and Bolton are still in need of a goal to avoid going out.
  • 71
    Daniel Braaten comes on for Bolton, with Teimourian making way.
  • 70
    Al-Habsi is down smartly to catch a Liedson drive from just outside the area.
  • 69
    Pereirinha's drive is deflected away for a corner as Sporting come forward again.
  • 66
    Vukcevic is replaced and Rodrigo Tiui takes his place.
  • 65
    Guthrie's deep free-kick from the right is headed away by Grimi as Vaz Te closes in at the far post.
  • 63
    A corner from the right causes problems for Al-Habsi, but Liedson cannot direct his header on target.
  • 62
    The game has started to get scrappy, with neither side able to make much of their possession.
  • 60
    Sporting have yet to find a way through and their latest attack ends with Liedson being adjudged offside.
  • 57
    Bolton have struggled to get into the game since the re-start and Megson must be wondering whether to make a change.
  • 56
    Pereirinha drills in a left-foot shot from 25 yards out, but it's straight at Al-Habsi.
  • 54
    Leandro Grimi is down injured and the game comes to a halt as we wait for the stretcher.
  • 52
    Pereirinha lifts a shot high into the crowd from 25 yards out on the right.
  • 51
    Meite makes a superb challenge on Liedson in the Bolton area and then lashes the ball upfield.
  • 50
    Sporting have a bit more of the ball than they did early on in the first half.
  • 49
    Teimourian brings down Moutinho in midfield and goes into the book.
  • 48
    A quiet opening to the second half.
  • 46
    Bolton start the second period.
  • 45
    Half-Time: SPORTING LISBON 0-0 BOLTON.
  • 44
    Romagnoli exchanges passes with Liedson and Al-Habsi has to get down to make a comfortable save at his near post.
  • 43
    Liedson threatens again, but Joey O'Brien is in quickly to block the shot.
  • 42
    There's not a lot to choose between the two teams so far, but Bolton are the side who need to score a goal, 0-0 is good enough for Sporting.
  • 40
    Liedson finally gets into the game, but fires a right-foot shot well over from 25 yards out.
  • 39
    Samuel aims a long ball at Helguson, but it drifts out of play for a goal-kick.
  • 38
    Joao Moutinho brings down Vaz Te and is the first player to be booked this evening.
  • 37
    Half-time is only a few minutes away and Sporting are slowly starting to exert some authority on possession.
  • 35
    Romagnoli tries his luck from 30 yards, but his right-foot effort is sliced high, wide and none too handsome.
  • 33
    Izmailov drifts inside Andranik Teimourian on the Bolton right, but drags his right-foot shot well wide of target from 25 yards.
  • 31
    That was by far the best chance of the game and Izmailov should have done much, much better.
  • 30
    Bruno Pereirinha's cross from the right is flicked on at the near post and Marat Izmailov lifts his left-foot shot over the top from five yards out at the far post.
  • 27
    Al-Habsi has had a quiet time of it since pushing away the first-minute free-kick of Vukcevic.
  • 25
    Vaz Te is caught marginally offside after a Samuel free-kick is flicked on into the Sporting penalty area.
  • 22
    Sporting coach Paulo Bento looks a bit agitated in his technical area.
  • 21
    It's all going okay at the moment, but Bolton have to score a goal at some stage to make it through to the quarter-finals.
  • 18
    Sporting are just starting to find some space for their passing game.
  • 17
    Gary Cahill blocks a shot from Leandro Romagnoli on the edge of the box after more hesitant defending.
  • 15
    Jlloyd Samuel fires a left-foot shot at goal, but it deflects wide off Stelios, who is in an offside position.
  • 13
    Abdoulaye Meite hesitates on the ball and Vukcevic races through, but drives his left-foot shot wide of the near post from the edge of the area.
  • 11
    A good move ends with Vaz Te overhitting his pass to Heidar Helguson, with Sporting keeper Rui Patricio collecting with ease.
  • 9
    A positive opening for the Trotters, with Danny Guthrie and Stelios seeing plenty of the ball in midfield.
  • 7
    Vaz Te takes down a long ball from Nicky Hunt well and lashes a right-foot shot inches wide of the near post and into the sidenetting.
  • 5
    A quiet opening to the game so far, Bolton will be happy with that.
  • 3
    Stelios Giannakopoulos tries to play Ricardo Vaz Te clear on the left, but his pass is too strong and goes out of play.
  • 2
    Ali Al-Habsi pushes away Simon Vukcevic's curling left-foot effort for a corner.
  • 1
    Abel Ferreira earns a free-kick 25 yards from the Bolton goal.
  • 1
    Sporting get the game underway.
  • 0
    Manager Gary Megson has left a host of first-team regulars at home for this game, including Kevin Davies, Kevin Nolan, El-Hadji Diouf and Jussi Jaaskelainen.
  • 0
    The tie is all-square at 1-1 after the first leg, as the Trotters look to make up for the exits of Everton and Spurs on Wednesday evening.
  • 0
    Bolton Wanderers fly the flag for England in the UEFA Cup, as they face a tough test in Portugal against Sporting Lisbon.

Statistics

Sp Lisbon
Shots on target 7
Shots off target 9
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 12
Offsides 4
Corners 11

Bolton Wanderers
Shots on target 1
Shots off target 1
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 15
Offsides 4
Corners 4

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