BOLTON......................0
WIGAN ATHLETIC......1
McCulloch 79
Wigan won 1-0 to seal a first win at Bolton for nearly twenty years as Lee McCulloch fired a late winner.
The match itself contained little entertainment for both sets of fans as Latics struggled to break down a physically imposing Wanderers team. There was bad news for Latics in the first half as both Emile Heskey and Gary Teale were substituted due to injury.
Heskey left the field after nearly half an hours play due to aggravating a hamstring injury. His replacement was goal hero Lee McCulloch, who almost made an immediate impact.
The Scot's first touch was a shot which was dragged wide of the goal, and two minutes later he headed over from Emmerson Boyce's cross.
It was soon after that Latics' injury problems escalated when Teale had to be taken off and he was substituted for young striker David Cotterill, who took his position on the right flank.
With a minute left before half-time the former Bristol City striker fired over the bar with a left-footed shot after receiving the ball from Henri Camara, who dribbled into the penalty box. The 18-year old was keen to use his pace down the wing, and he had a great chance to double Wigan's lead at the death as he saw his shot from the edge of the box parried away.
But it was McCulloch who helped Latics to a second consecutive away victory with just eleven minutes remaining. Henrik Pedersen's poor clearance was picked up by Kilbane, who played a one-two with Camara, who flicked the ball back to the former Everton man. He squared the ball to McCulloch who drilled a low shot from the edge of the box inside the near post beyond the reach of Jussi Jaaskelainen.
The goal was probably against the run of play, especially as Bolton were in the ascendancy for most of the match as Latics struggled with their style of play. The hosts might have taken the lead much earlier themselves had it not been for poor finishing.
Andy Webster lost possession to El-Hadji Diouf, who quickly released Nicolas Anelka who raced towards the exposed goal. But the Frenchman, under pressure from Chris Kirkland fired over the bar, when he should have made the Latics goalkeeper work harder.
Wanderers were quick on the counter attack, and Diouf threatened again when he cut inside from the right wing, before blasting the ball over Kirkland's goal.
Wanderers continued their dominance at the start of the second half, and threatened when
Boyce fouled Diouf, It was Stelio who took the dangerous looking free kick and it was desperately scrambled away from the penalty area.
Kevin Davies also proved to be a real thorn for Latics as he was particularly prone to committing several offences as he consistently gave away free kicks away. The striker almost scored nine minutes after the restart when he marginally headed Gary Speed's corner wide of the far post.
This wasn't a classic game by any stretch of the imagination, but Latics were gritty in their character, and their patience paid off when McCulloch scored the winner.
Latics: Kirkland; Boyce, De Zeeuw, Webster, Baines; Teale (Cotterill 33), Landzaat, Scharner, Kilbane; Heskey (McCulloch 27), Camara (Johansson 88)
Substitutes: Filan, Jackson.
Booked: Kilbane
Bolton: Jaaskelainin, Meite, Speed (Tal 90), Stelios, Campo, Pedersen (Hunt 90), Davies (Vaz Te 74), Diouf, Faye, Ben Haim, Anelka
Substitutes: Al Habsi, Smith
Booked: Davies
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Assistant Referees: T. Massey & R. Pollock
Fourth Official: S. Mathieson
Attendance: 21,255
