Bolton 3 Manchester City 3: Tevez to the rescue for draw specialists

Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy was sent off for the fifth time in his career yesterday but for once he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.Bellamy was given his marching orders by referee Mark Clattenburg for diving in the penalty area following a 65th-minute challenge by Bolton defender Paul Robinson, but television replays showed the Wales captain had been tripped.Indignant City manager Mark Hughes called the decision laughable and seemed to imply that the referee had been influenced by his personal feelings towards the player. Close range strike: Klasnic scores for BoltonAt least City, trailing 3-2 at the time, showed enough character tohaul themselves back to equalise for a third time, with man of thematch Carlos Tevez scoring his second goal with 13 minutes left.Bolton's first goal had also been offside, but City cannot hidecompletely behind the decisions of Clattenburg and his assistants. Itwas the eighth time in nine games unbeatablethat City, a team assembledat a cost of £200million, had been held to draws, this one againsttheir poor neighbours from up the M61.In fact, Bolton could have taken all three points, which would havehurled the pressure back on to Hughes after the respite of lastweekend's victory over Chelsea.Three times the home side led and made the visitors look ordinary.It was City's courage rather than class that earned them a point, whichis not good enough against opposition, like Bolton, struggling in thebottom three. Early bath: Craig Bellamy bends Mark Hughes' ear following his red cardHughes was understandably keen to defend Bellamy after his secondyellow card. 'It was a laughable decision. It is quite clear the guyhas taken him out,' he said. 'Craig was running at full pelt. At thatpace, a slight touch would knock anyone out of their stride.'Clattenburg said Craig was looking to deceive him but I don't understand why he thought that he was in a good position.'We were really frustrated by his performance. The first goal wasclearly offside. Why the hell that wasn't spotted is difficult to see.'Even the opposition rallied behind Bellamy. Bolton boss Gary Megson,who played with Bellamy at Norwich, said: 'It looked a harsh decision.You could see he wasn't looking for the penalty.' Howitzer: Gary Cahill fired Bolton's second with a sublime strikeBut maybe Hughes would have been wiser not to insinuate thatClattenburg might have been biased against Bellamy. The City managersaid: 'I don't appreciate it when refs go out for the second halftelling my support staff who they like and don't like in my team.'Bolton deserved equal sympathy, however, after a fantasticspectacle. It could not have been easy to go so close to beating therichest club in the world having previously taken one point from apossible 15.Bolton deserved their 11th-minute lead even if it came incontroversial circumstances. Lee Chung-Yong fired a shot across thesix-yard box and Croat striker Ivan Klasnic scored from close range,leaving City keeper Shay Given to lead the protests for offside.City woke up after 28 minutes when Vincent Kompany laid the ballback to Tevez, who scored from 18 yards. But Hughes would have beenangry at surrendering the lead again two minutes before half-time whenGary Cahill easily turned Stephen Ireland to fire Bolton back in front. Through the gap: Tevez fired City level At least, Micah Richards ensured the visitors went in level at thebreak, scoring his second goal of the season from Bellamy's clever passwith just seconds remaining.Klasnic restored Bolton's lead after 53 minutes when he reached MattTaylor's flick-on before Joleon Lescott to score his second. Bellamysaid something about a Bolton throw given in the build-up and wasbooked something he regretted further when he fell under Robinson'schallenge and Mr Clattenburg pulled out the yellow card again.The decision was met with disbelief by Bellamy, who had not beensent off for eight years, while Hughes did a Basil Fawlty impression onthe touchline.But where there is Tevez, there is hope. And, after 77 minutes, theArgentinian took a pass from Ireland and, despite being surrounded byfour defenders, beat keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen from an acute angle.Megson said: 'It was a marvellous game. But to lead three times, we are disappointed not to have won.' Manchester City rocked by early demand for Adebayor and ToureDes Kelly: Silence is golden? It depends on who is doing the talking.BOLTON WANDERERS FC

Source: Daily_Mail