- Zaki (44 pen)
- Date:2008-12-28
- Kick-off:14:00
- Venue:Reebok Stadium
- Attendance:23726
- Referee:Dowd, P
Live Commentary
90mins
Full Time: BOLTON 0-1 WIGAN. The game comes to a close and Wigan take home the points despite Bolton's second-half pressure.
90mins
Zaki is withdrawn by Steve Bruce and is replaced by Michael Brown - That change will run down a few extra seconds for the visitors.
89mins
A late corner for Bolton that Taylor swings in - Pollitt parrys the ball down and they fail to clear, it falls for Steinsson but he sends his shot over the crossbar.
87mins
Bolton are launching the ball forward early to try to force their way past the strong Wigan centre halves but Scharner and Bramble have been solid in the air today.
85mins
Temitope Obadeyi comes on for Ricardo Gardner. Will this be a crucial change?
85mins
Kevin Kilbane replaces Ryan Taylor as Steve Bruce looks for fresh legs to carry Wigan through.
80mins
Cattermole becomes the fifth player to be cautioned by Phil Dowd after he fouled Mustapha Riga on the half-way line.
77mins
Wigan win a corner on the left hand side. Ryan Taylor will take it with all the big men up from the back - Taylor's corner is a poor one and it is cleared by the first man. A wasted chance to get that vital second goal for Wigan!
74mins
Figueroa brings down Matthew Taylor on the left hand side. Taylor delivers the free-kick with dip and pace towards Steinsson but as he jumps the referee penalises him for a foul on Titus Bramble.
69mins
Matthew Taylor cuts inside and unleashed a shot from the edge of the area but again it flies straight at Pollitt who clutches the ball into his chest.
67mins
Ryan Taylor produces a right-footed effort from range but he skews his shot wide off the left hand post. Taylor hungry for a goal on his 150th league game in Wigan colours.
64mins
The second of two substitutions from Gary Megson sees Mustapha Riga come on for Jlloyd Samuel at left-back. Will the fresh legs provide the spark for a Bolton come back?
64mins
Fabrice Muamba joins the action to replace Kevin Nolan in the heart of the Bolton midfield.
63mins
Matthew Taylor breaks down the left and crosses into the feet of Elmader who turns and shoots but Pollitt gets down quickly to save. The loose ball falls to Davies who tries to thread it past Pollitt but it cannons back off the post.
60mins
Ricardo Gardner comes in off the flank and works the ball onto his left-foot and shoots but Pollitt makes a smart save and holds the ball.
55mins
Outswinging corner taken by Ryan Taylor and the cross finds it way to Figueroa at the back post who shoots left-footed but Shittu makes a vital block.
53mins
Corner for Bolton that Taylor will take. He bends it in and Shittu rises to meet it with a glancing header that beats Pollitt but Palacios is back on the line and heads the ball back into the grateful arms of Pollitt.
52mins
McCann brings down Zaki just outside the box and the referee awards Wigan a free-kick. Ryan Taylor will fancy this - He bends it over the wall towards the corner but Jaaskelainen dives to save it comfortably.
51mins
Wilson Palacios tries his luck from just outside the area in the right hand channel but his strike goes fractionally wide of the right hand post.
48mins
Bolton go forward and the ball is worked to Matthew Taylor who shoots from distance but he drives it straight into the arms of Pollitt.
47mins
Valencia looking dangerous down the right and he gains a bit of space to cross right-footed but no-one gets on the end of it and Bolton are able to clear.
46mins
The second period gets underway.
45mins
Half-Time: BOLTON 0-1 WIGAN. The first half comes to a close and Zaki's penalty is the difference between the two sides. A fairly even game but Wigan have had the best of the chances and deserve the lead.
45mins
The ball breaks for Nolan just inside the box but Pollitt is out quickly and bravely to smother the ball. Nolan looked in there but Pollitt did really well.
43mins
BOLTON 0-1 WIGAN. ZAKI takes the penalty right-footed and confidently strikes it into the corner to give Wigan the lead.
43mins
Wigan have a penalty after Andy O'Brien pushes Camara to the turf inside the box after a cross from Palacios. No questions about the decision.
41mins
Palacios forces a corner off Steinsson - Taylor will deliver from the left - He swings the ball in and it breaks to Cattermole on the edge of the area. He strikes it well but Jaaskelainen is down to beat the ball away from the danger zone.
40mins
Amr Zaki is down with a head injury and is receiving treatment just inside his own penalty area. Wigan have already lost Heskey so they will hope Zaki is OK to continue.
36mins
Gardner plays the ball across the box and it breaks for McCann who shoots low but Taylor makes the block for Wigan and the ball goes behind.
34mins
Nolan gives the ball away to Camara who steps towards goal and strikes it from distance. Jaaskelainen has to make a good stop diving to his right and Wigan have a corner.
33mins
Heskey is withdrawn as a result of that injury and Henri Camara will enter the action to add a different dimension to the Wigan attack.
32mins
Sorry for the lack of update but Emile Heskey is down receiving treatment for a knock sustained in a challenge.
29mins
Wilson Palacios is booked. He brought down Steinsson after the full-back had skipped past him.
27mins
Emile Heskey finds space just inside the Bolton box and takes a shot towards the far corner but Jaaskelainen makes a smart save.
27mins
Steinsson becomes the third player booked after a cynical foul.
24mins
Kevin Nolan pulls the trigger as the ball drops to him just outside the area but his dipping volley just beats the crossbar.
22mins
The game is a little scrappy at the moment with lots of fouls being committed. Ryan Taylor delivers a free-kick from just inside the Bolton half but Shittu rises confidently to head the ball clear of the danger zone.
18mins
Ryan Taylor is cautioned for dissent after Bolton are awarded a throw-in deep in Wigan territory. A silly booking to pick up.
17mins
Elmander finds space on the flank and he whips the ball to the back post. Kevin Davies brings the ball down and looks to shoot but Scharner makes a superb sliding challenge to deny Davies. Excellent defending.
15mins
Long clearance up field from Pollitt and Heskey rises to flick the ball on towards Zaki who drives the ball at goal but it is well blocked by O'Brien.
12mins
Nolan plays a raking pass out to Samuel who crosses deep towards Elmander who nods the ball down for Taylor to strike but it skews it well wide of the post.
9mins
The first corner of the game goes Bolton's way - McCann delivers and Melchiot heads away as far as Samuel who tries his luck but it takes a defelction behind for another corner.
8mins
A free-kick is delivered from deep towards the edge of the Bolton area but is headed away as far as Bramble who shoots from range but sends it well over the crossbar.
6mins
Kevin Nolan is cautioned for a late challenge on Palacios in the early moments. Phil Dowd stamping his authority on this game by bringing out the yellow card early.
3mins
Wigan controlling possession in the opening minutes and they win a free-kick on the right wing after Valencia was fouled. The free-kick comes in but an offside is spotted by the assistant and the opportunity is wasted.
0mins
Phil Dowd is today's referee and he gets this game underway.
0mins
Steve Bruce makes his one change in goal where Pollitt comes in to replace Kirkland, but otherwise the side is unchanged from the win over Newcastle. Wigan have won 3 of their last 4 so will be confident of getting a result today.
0mins
Kevin Davies returns up-front for Bolton after being left out of their boxing day defeat to Liverpool. Gary Megson's side are without a clean sheet in seven games and are without Cahill today who is injured. Shittu replaces him.
0mins
Wigan: Pollitt, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Palacios, Taylor, Heskey, Zaki
0mins
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Shittu, Andrew O'Brien, Samuel, Taylor, Nolan, McCann, Gardner, Elmander, Davies
0mins
Welcome to the Reebok Stadium, home of Bolton Wanderers who are up against an in form Wigan side this afternoon.
Match Preview
Bolton Wanderers boss Gary Megson will recall Kevin Davies to the starting line-up for the visit of Wigan Athletic.
The combative striker was rested for the 3-0 defeat at Liverpool on Boxing Day but should return against the Latics after Megson admitted his tactical gamble had backfired.
"We wanted to play a little bit differently but it didn't work," he said.
"We wanted to use the pace of Ricardo Gardner and Matt Taylor and try and cause problems out wide rather than directly through the middle, but we didn't cause them any problems.
"The team was also picked with an eye on the fact that we've got two games in the space of 48 hours."
Defender Gary Cahill picked up a rib injury at Anfield but played on for the full 90 minutes.
However, the former England Under-21 international could find that two games in the space of 48 hours will be a little too much.
Meanwhile, in-form Wigan moved up to ninth place in the table with a 2-1 success over Newcastle United on Boxing Day.
Hot-shot Ryan Taylor - the fans' choice as Wigan's best ever dead-ball specialist - did it again, scoring for the fourth consecutive match against the Magpies.
Then the Latics wrapped up the three points with a second-half penalty from Amr Zaki, who hammered in his ninth Premier League goal of the season.
Manager Steve Bruce will be forced into a midfield reshuffle after seeing Lee Cattermole pick up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Michael Brown is likely to come in for the former Middlesbrough midfielder after he was dropped from the starting line-up in favour of Wilson Palacios on Boxing Day.
"You could see that we have got a really good side here," said Bruce afterwards.
"We had a difficult start to the season when we didn't pick up as many points as we should have done and we needed to turn that around.
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Match Report
Amr Zaki's 44th-minute penalty was enough to hand in-form Wigan Athletic the points against neighbours Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium.
The Egyptian striker's 11th goal of the season sealed a third consecutive victory for Steve Bruce's side, who moved up to seventh.
It was Andy O'Brien who gifted Latics the win when the Wanderers defender bundled over Henri Camara in the area a minute before half-time.
And Zaki coolly sent Jussi Jaaskelainen the wrong way for his fourth successful spot-kick of the season and second in three days after scoring in Wigan's 2-1 victory against Newcastle on Boxing Day.
Just two points and one place separated the two sides before kick-off and Wanderers received a major let-off on 23 minutes when Danny Shittu, in for the injured Gary Cahill, brought down Emile Heskey just inside the penalty area, but referee Phil Dowd, incredibly, waived away his protests.
Kevin Davies should have given the home side the lead moments later, but the forward took an eternity on the edge of the six-yard box, allowing Paul Scharner to get back and make the challenge after the defender had failed to cut out Johan Elmander's cross.
Jaaskelainen saved with his feet from Heskey after another Shittu blunder, but that was to be the England player's last involvement after he pulled up with a problem with his hamstring and was replaced by Henri Camara on 33 minutes.
The Latics substitute nearly scored with his first touch after Kevin Nolan carelessly surrendered possession, but Jaaskelainen made a fine finger-tip save to keep out his curling effort.
The Wanderers goalkeeper came to Bolton's rescue again when he saved low down from Lee Cattermole and was then grateful when Titus Bramble shot straight at him.
But the visitors were ahead a minute before half time after O'Brien needlessly bundled over Camara in the penalty area as the striker looked to get on the end of Wilson Palacios' cross. Zaki made no mistake from the spot.
Shittu thought he had equalised nine minutes after the restart, but his header from Matt Taylor's corner was cleared off the line by Palacios with the Wanderers players adamant it was a goal.
Latics keeper Mike Pollitt then denied Elmander with his feet and then Davies' follow-up effort clipped the outside of the post.
And Shittu nearly salvaged a point in injury time, but the big defender's header hit the crossbar as Gary Megson's side slumped to their fourth defeat in five games.
Bolton Wanderers Team
Wigan Athletic Team
Bolton Wanderers | Wigan Athletic |
Corners
| 8 | 7 |
Fouls
| 14 | 13 |
Goal attempts
| 14 | 11 |
Shots off target
| 5 | 3 |
Offsides
| 2 | 3 |



90mins
Another corner for Bolton - Taylor whips the ball, Pollitt comes to get it but Shittu gets their first and thumps the header goalbound but it smashes off the crossbar and goes over! What a chance to steal a point!