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{ Daniel Sturridge of Bolton Wanderers celebrates scoring his team's second goal against Everton. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images That Owen Coyle's a crafty character. Bolton were the early front-runners for this season's Media Darling award, wowing neutrals with their carefree approach, Coyle getting his side playing a brand of free-flowing football that was extremely easy on the eye. In December, Bolton were sixth and were even in with a sniff of a Champions League place. Johan Elmander was doing something Johan Elmander hadn't done since 1983 and was scoring goals, including a sublime, solo goal-of-the-season contender during a 3-2 victory away to Wolves. Behind the veil though, all was not well and Bolton's chairman, cuddly Phil Gartside, admitted, with a suitably heavy heart, the world's smallest violin playing the world's saddest song in the background, that the club may have to cash in on Elmander and Gary Cahill. Since when Coyle has hit upon a novel solution to this pernickety little dilemma: Cahill has stopped doing defending, Elmander has stopped doing goals and Bolton have stopped doing wins. In their last home game, they lost 4-0 to Chelsea and what could be more embarrassing than that these days? The January transfer window passed, Daniel Sturridge came in, and Cahill and Elmander went nowhere. Some call it wanton sabotage. Others will merely hail it as another example of Coyle's saintly managerial powers.

Of course, Coyle has done a terrific job, but his opposite number today, David Moyes, provides a pointed example of a manager who is all too aware about The Premier League's infamous glass ceiling. Smaller clubs reach sixth and then they realise they have nowhere left to go, not unlike Heroes after the excellent first series (seriously, what sort of utter buffoon creates an array of main characters who can't die? A special sort of buffoon, that's what). For years Everton pounded against the class barrier and all it's left them with is two black eyes and a sore head. Personally I find their slide down the table rather distressing, another tick in the pro column for those weighing up a lifetime of nihilism. Money, money, money. That's what it's all about these days and if you don't have it, you can forget about quaint old things like loyalty, prudence and careful team-building. Modern football, eh?

In theory, this should be an entertaining game today though. Bolton have been good to watch all season and Everton scored five goals last week. And Louis Saha scored four of them. He's bang in form, that one, with six goals in his last three games. It's a shame he's out with a hamstring injury then. His career in microcosm, a brief spurt of splendid form followed by another muscle twang. I once read in an article in Shoot Magazine that "If is a small word with a big meaning". That line seems strangely appropriate now.

Bolton (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen; Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Robinson; Elmander, Mark Davies, Holden, Taylor; Kevin Davies, Sturridge. Subs: Bogdan, Muamba, Petrov, Klasnic, Moreno, Lee, Wheater.

Everton (4-4-1-1): Howard; Neville, Heitinga, Distin, Baines; Coleman, Arteta, Fellaini, Bilyaletdinov; Cahill; Anichebe. Subs: Mucha, Hibbert, Jagielka, Beckford, Osman, Duffy, Baxter.

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)

I see Dave Jones is in the Sky hotseat again. Sundays used to so much more Super for Richard Keys. Sky keep everything, don't they? It's quite worrying to be perfectly honest, the idea that there's some embittered former colleague working their way through the archives, looking for ways to make Keys look even worse. I imagine the office dynamic was something like this (work out for yourself who's playing what role).

Some pre-match emails.

"Johan Elmander did actually score a goal a few days ago - a pretty good one at that," says Ed Rostrom. "Mind you, he does it as rarely for Sweden as he does for Bolton." It's fine if he does it now, the transfer window's not open. It's all part of the ruse.

"For years Mikkel Arteta seemed to shrug off the disappointment of being one of the most talented players never to play international football, but maybe events in South Africa last summer got to him," says Gary Naylor. "He has certainly been both quiet and tetchy this season, flitting about at the edges of games rather than bossing them. With his big contract, he owes us a big finish to the season." A bad knee injury has played its part too. They always do.

There's a bitter history located in this fixture. Back in September 1997, Bolton had a good goal disallowed against Everton when the officials failed to spot the ball going well over the line. The match finished 0-0 and at the time that didn't seem like it would have such far-reaching consequences. Until the last day of that season when Everton stayed up only on goal difference and Bolton were relegated instead of them, bringing to mind a rubbish film starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart.

Click-clack-clack-click. Out come the teams and as Martin Tyler's not commentating, there's no "AND IT'S LIIIIIIIVVVVVEEEEE!" assaulting our ears either. Why has he taken to doing that?

1 min: Off we go! Everton, attacking from right to left, which never sounds correct to me, kick off. After some mindless hoofing and so on, Taylor brings down Arteta in the centre circle. The free-kick is hoicked up to Anichebe on the edge of the area, but he's hustled out of it by Knight. It's been an English start to the game.

2 min: The first glimpse of the always lively Danny Sturridge. It was good forward play from Kevin Davies initially, holding the ball up well and laying it off to Sturridge on the right. He darted up the flank, looking for the opportunity to roll inside Distin and maraud into the area. Eventually he's overwhelmed by two Everton defenders but does excellently to win a corner with very little support from his team-mates. Taylor whips it in and Cahill heads over under pressure at the far post.

4 min: Bolton are settling now, dominating possession and keeping the ball confidently away from Everton. Ricketts dinks a pass down the inside right channel, and Davies flicks it on adeptly to Gary Cahill but his attempted turn is too cumbersome and Distin's tackle is assured.

6 min: Bolton's decent spell continues. Neville's clearance only finds Ricketts in the middle of Everton's half. He takes a few strides forward and then unleashes a piledriver ... he's a right-back.

7 min: Everton are struggling to deal with Bolton's positive and direct approach. Distin just about does enough to stop a long ball reaching Kevin Davies, but can only concede a corner in the process. Happily for Everton though, Taylor's corner is woefully overcooked and despite Gary Cahill's efforts, it drifts out for a throw-in to the visitors. A professional footballer.

8 min: Taylor's having a minor nightmare at the moment, hopelessly shanking a pass straight out for a goal-kick. Robinson gives him an earful. He gives everyone an earful to be fair.

9 min: Everton can't get out and Bolton have had 64% of the possession so far. That said, Howard hasn't had to make a save yet.

GOAL! Bolton 1-0 Everton (Gary Cahill, 10 min): Bolton have made their pressure count now! This has been a really impressive start from them and the goal is precisely what their high-octane approach merits. Everton had just about dealt with a succession of crosses from Ricketts and Taylor before this, but having defended the earlier threats, Anichebe put them straight back in trouble by conceding a free-kick on the left touchline for a foul on Robinson. Holden whipped it in right-footed and Cahill, unmarked, stole in to flick a header towards goal. It took a nick off the unfortunate Heitinga, completely wrongfooted Howard and flew in.

12 min: Everton come straight back into it and Elmander is booked for a cruncher of a tackle on Baines on the left. Not the worst challenge you'll ever see, but certainly overly forceful and, well, late. He didn't get the ball essentially. Arteta curls the free-kick in but there's to be no instant riposte from Everton. "Heitinga unlucky?" asks Gary Naylor. "He should have been challenging Cahill for the header. Has a less talented player ever played in a World Cup Final?" Fernando Torres?

15 min: On second glance, there didn't seem to be much in the free-kick that led to Bolton's goal. It didn't look like Anichebe touched Robinson; as if Bolton will give a solitary one, though. They'll just point to 1997. Revenge.

17 min: What a miss by Tim Cahill! He's no Gary. Everton have calmed the storm a little, and have started to see more and more of the ball, stroking it around encouragingly. The ball is worked out to the ever-dangerous Baines on the left and his wonderful cross dissects Bolton's gawping defence, only for Tim Cahill to sidefoot the ball past the right-hand post with the goal gaping. Why didn't he just head it?

19 min: This is a very impressive response from Everton, who are doing precisely what Bolton did to them at the moment, forcing an array of set-pieces and pressing the home side on the back foot.

20 min: It's still all Everton. Anichebe wriggles clear on the right, making his way into the area but his cutback is blocked by a Bolton defender. The ball is fired straight back into the box by Coleman but again Bolton deal with it. The final pass isn't quite there for Everton, but it's coming. "What does Elmander think he's doing in the photo?" asks Mac Millings. "He surely can't be trying to persuade us that he finds scoring goals childishly easy. Presumably, then, knowing his prowess, he has just emerged from a bucket of mammary glands."

22 min: The otherwise anonymous Bilyaletdinov suddenly finds himself clear in the Bolton area after a sneaky pass from Anichebe, but he's just offside.

23 min: Superb defending from Knight prevents Anichebe from getting a shot on goal, but Everton are really turning the screw, an equaliser surely on the way if it continues like this. Arteta is afforded far too much time and space in the centre circle to pick out a glorious pass through to Anichebe on the right, but with the goal in his sights, Knight recovers brilliantly to deflect his shot over and behind. There's a stoppage in play as Knight managed to injure himself making the challenge.

25 min: During the break in play, Sturridge and Elmander had an argument about a misplaced pass from the Swede. It got quite animated for a while; I was hoping for a Batty-Le Saux style set-to. All appears to be well in their world though, and eventually play is allowed to restart, although Baines's corner wasn't exactly worth the wait, plonked straight on to Taylor's head at the near post.

26 min: Another stoppage. Knight came back on to the pitch but no sooner had he returned, he was signalling he couldn't continue. It seems he's tweaked a knee ligament, he says thumbing through his Big Book Of Medicine For Dummies.

28 min: Bolton substitution: Knight departs on a stretcher and David Wheather, he of the witch's chin, enters the fray.

29 min: David Moyes has the radge on as Sturridge goes down under a soft challenge from Distin near the centre circle. "1997. Proof that whining stays long in the memory," says Alex May. "If anyone cares to actually look at Bolton's goal in 1997, they'll see that Nathan Blake elbowed Southall in the throat causing him to drop the ball. Debate over. The ommission of facts gives everyone the wrong impression. Their misplaced feelings of injustice could've inspired them to get a few more points in the 34 remaining games."

30 min: Ricketts lifts the ball high into the area - but too high, and Howard races off his line to claim the cross. This is typical fare from the Premier League; angry, vein-throbbing, committed, fast, intense, not very good, how would Barcelona do?

31 min: Coleman tries to trick his way past Taylor on the edge of Bolton's area. Or possibly inside. Either way there's no getting past Taylor, and despite Coleman's fall, Lee Probert ignores his plaintive and slightly half-hearted calls for a foul.

33 min: Sturridge has been a bit disappointing so far. He's struggling to get involved, and Everton's physicality is keeping him quiet for the most part. He's got plenty of potential but he hasn't done much for the last 18 months. Here he is though, skipping away from Heitinga who brings him down 25 yards from goal. A foul by Jonny Heitinga. What's new? Probert tries to play the advantage but there is none and awards the free-kick.

35 min: Taylor skims the free-kick below the wall, but it's insultingly tame and Howard saves easily. Before the free-kick, Heitinga and Sturridge had a minor disagreement over the foul, their heads coming together and harsh words, no doubt, traded. Why do footballers do that? They're forever trying to prove whose got the strongest head, ironic, really, when you consider how little tends to be in them.

36 min: This is utterly atrocious from Bilyaletdinov, who could have released either Anichebe or Baines just outside the area, but instead dithered and dallied and pondered and had a short think about whether he prefers The Sopranos and The Wire, all very pleasant for a Sunday afternoon, I'm sure you'll agree. Until Wheater stepped in and knocked the LILY-LIVERED FOREIGNER to the floor and seized possession. Bilyaledtinov was so selfish there, because what he was essentially trying to do there was work space for a shot, unforgivable when team-mates were in better positions.

39 min: Bilyaledtinov, a brave, hardy soul, dumps Elmander, A LILY-LIVERED FOREIGNER, to the floor on the right. Free-kick to Bolton BUT YOU CAN'T TOUCH ANYONE THESE DAYS, IT'S A DISGRACE.

40 min: Taylor puts the ball in the mixer, but Howard punches clear. The ball falls kindly for Everton to go on the counter again. Arteta finds Coleman on the right, but Anichebe and Fellaini are unable to make anything of his cross. Baines collects possession on the left and the it's teed up for Arteta to try a whipped shot from inside the D, but his effort is straight at Jaaskelainen.

43 min: Bolton nearly get lucky. Kevin Davies wasn't picked up between Everton's midfield and defence and tried to poke a pass through to Sturridge. He got the pass all wrong, but no matter because it caught out Everton to the extent that it ran through to Taylor on the left. With Elmander waiting at the back stick, he tried to drill the ball across goal but Neville got a vital touch on it to deflect it behind for a corner.

44 min: Distin heads Holden's corner clear, more or less. Kevin Davies resumes the attack on the right and drives a cross back into the area. It's headed away, and Mark Davies's shot is blocked after a nifty piece of skill from the midfielder earned him a smidgen of space.

45 min: From that Bolton set-piece, Everton break at pace, Arteta leading the attack. He finds Bilyaletdinov on the left, who zips forward, before stroking a pass to the right for Coleman, who's in acres of space. There's just not quite enough pace on the ball though and Coleman has to wait and check his run, allowing Wheater to get back and bundle the danger away. We'll have three more minutes of this.

45 min+2: Coleman is a constant threat for Everton on the right and nearly cuts open apart twice in quick succession. First Fellaini's piercing through ball rendered Robinson irrelevant, but Jaaskelainen hares off his line to beat Coleman to the pass, doing well not to handle outside his area. Shortly afterwards, Coleman glides into Bolton's area from the right and fires a cross across goal, the sort defenders loathe, but no Everton player is able to get a touch for what would have been a tap-in.

Peep! Peep! Lee Probert brings his whistle to his lips and the half-time whistle is blown. Bolton started at quite some pace, but since the goal, Everton have been the better side.

Half-time: Bolton 1-0 Everton.

Looking at the foul which led to Bolton's goal again, the decision to award a free-kick looks worse and worse with each viewing. If anything it should have been a free-kick to Everton.

46 min: It's raining. It's February. It's Bolton. Glamour. Andy Gray would like to see Barcelona do it in these conditions because they've never been confronted by water, after all. Bolton get us going again and the hoofing begins in earnest.

47 min: Once again, Bolton start the half well. Robinson forages forward, charging on to a loose ball from Kevin Davies's flick, but his touch lets him down and Heitinga gets it clear. It comes back to Taylor on the left and he tries to find Sturridge with a curler of a cross, but Distin is on hand to deal with it.

49 min: On the subject of the worst player to have played in a World Cup final, Rick Buur offers this compelling evidence.

50 min: Taylor can do no more here. Mark Davies played the ball out to him on the left and first-time he cracked a brilliant low cross across the face of goal. Distin did well to marshal Kevin Davies at the near post, but no other Bolton player gambled on the cross and nothing comes of it. It's astonishingly frustrating when players act in such slack-jawed fashion. Everton, by the by, are offering nothing.

52 min: Fellaini brings down Sturridge 30 yards from goal, just to the right. Sturridge does have a tendency to go down easily, but Lee Probert awards the free-kick. Taylor slams the ball into the wall, and then goes down under a non-existent tackle from Baines. This time, Probert ignores his claims.

53 min: Is there a dirtier player in the league than Marouane Fellaini? He's just flailed a stray arm into the face of Holden but, as usual, he gets away with it. He always just manages to make it look like he's being clumsy but it happens too often for it to be coincidence.

54 min: Everton wake up at last. Fellaini, ironically enough, wins a free-kick on the right. Arteta swings it in and Fellaini forces Bolton to concede a corner on the left.

55 min: It. Just. Won't. Fall. For. Everton. The corner is put into the box by Arteta from the left and Kevin Davies performs his defensive duties well with a firm header away. It comes back to Baines and again Davies gets his head in the way in the six-yard box. The ball falls to Arteta on the left and he takes the ball inside, tricks his way past one man and then completely mistimes his volleyed cutback from the angle, the ball falling feebly at the feet of a Bolton defender.

56 min: Arteta finds Anichebe in the area, but Gary Cahill stays strong and refuses to allow the striker to roll him, before blocking his screwed shot.

59 min: The pressure from Everton is incessant at the moment. Anichebe, strong and powerful, forces his way down the right flank and is fouled by the wheezing Wheater. Baines curls the ball in but no one can get a glancing header on it and Jaaskelainen catches it.

60 min: Bolton substitution: Matt Taylor goes off and the excellent Chung-Yong Lee comes on. Bolton really missed him while he was away at the Asian Cup. On Fellaini, Emily B says: "Kind of like how Ryan Shawcross always just happens to break opponents' legs, even though he's not "that kind of player"?" Well, not always. He hasn't done it for almost a year now.

61 min: A double substitution from Everton: Jermaine Beckford and Leon Osman come on for Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Seamus Coleman. The Russian has been anonymous, although Coleman was menacing here and there. This should mean Everton tweak their formation, with Beckford joining Anichebe in the attack and Cahill perhaps moving into a deeper role.

62 min: Neville lumps the ball forward, leading to a spot of head tennis, Everton winning three headers in a row. The last, from Beckford, falls to Tim Cahill on the edge of the area, but after he swivels, his volley is sliced miles over.

64 min: If only Everton had Louis Saha. They've had plenty of possession in good areas, but they've lacked conviction and an end product. Anichebe is willing, but rather limited. Maybe Beckford can have an impact; he's started to look decent in recent weeks.

65 min: On the left, Osman checks back on to his right foot and curls the ball into the six-yard box but Gary Cahill heads clear. He's having a fine game. Maybe Arsenal should sign him.

66 min: The Bolton fans have been getting increasingly irritated by Probert's refusal to award them free-kicks, so there are ironic cheers as he blows for a foul by Distin on Sturridge. Ah, football fans.

GOAL! Bolton 2-0 Everton (Sturridge, 67 min): Three games, three goals. What an impact the young man has had since his loan move from Chelsea and this should - should, note - be the game. It came from another long ball into Everton's area from Wheater. Gary Cahill caused havoc with his aerial prowess and strength, refusing to allow Everton to clear their lines. The ball skewed up to the left, where Lee rose impressively above Baines, who was extremely flat-footed, and nodded the ball down to the right for the unmarked Sturridge. Ten yards from goal he thrashed a superb, swerving volley past Howard with the outside of his left boot and into the left corner of the goal. An unorthodox finish, but hey, who's quibbling?

70 min: Everton have had so many free-kicks on the right touchline. Now they have another, Kevin Davies bumping into Arteta. It's a chance for Everton to exert some pressure, but their delivery from set-pieces has been woeful all afternoon and this is no different, overhit and inaccurate. Jaaskelainen claims. That is so frustrating. Moyes, by the way, will be furious with Baines's defending for Sturridge's goal. Lee is not exactly Nikola Zigic.

72 min: "Fellaini has talent, but he has learned nothing about how to avoid fouling, curb his temperament or run late on to the ball played into the box," complains Gary Naylor. "Given how many players have improved under Moyes (Cahill, Jagielka, Baines etc), it seems obvious that this is the best Everton can expect from him - and it's not enough."

73 min: From the right, Ricketts crosses towards Kevin Davies but it's too close to Howard. Moments later, Sturridge scoots ominously through to a ball through to him, but Howard is quick off his line to smother. "Is Fellaini really the dirtiest player in the league?" asks Joe Daly. "I can't recall an injury he has caused to another player. His hand does flap about more than it should but I don't think there's anything particularly snide about it. As for getting away with it - he got 10 yellows in his first 17 games and went for a hearing with Keith Hackett on his behaviour. He was continually called on by referees for fairly innocuous challenges. I'm not defending the swinging elbow but I think he's far from the dirtiest player. I suppose it depends how we categorise 'dirty'." Well dirty in the sense of how niggly he is. He's not high-profile, but he commits an astonishing number of fouls and always seems to get away with it. He's the new Robbie Savage, although much less entertaining. He does have the hair for the part though.

75 min: Everton are getting frustrated now and Tim Cahill slides through the back of Kevin Davies on the left, 40 yards from goal. Holden takes the free-kick and Gary Cahill inadvertently diverts the ball away from the area. Holden gets another chance, but Howard manages to punch clear.

76 min: Smooth play from Fellaini sees him dodge Holden. He follows it up by sliding a pass through to Beckford, who slips as he tries to control it. Neither player is happy with the other, Beckford gesturing petulantly to Fellaini, who looks nonplussed. To be honest, neither of them covered themselves with glory today, although you'd think Beckford had scored 20 goals already this season the way he was carrying on. He hasn't.

78 min: Everton make their final change, the pedestrian Victor Anichebe replaced by Jose Baxter.

GOAL! NO, WAIT - NO GOAL! 79 min: Sturrdige skedaddles on to a flick from Kevin Davies. Having isolated Heitinga in the area, he zips past the cumbersome Dutchman, hurtling towards the goal-line. The touch was slightly heavy so he couldn't get the shot away, but with the situation seemingly hopeless, he produced a moment of sheer brilliance, backheeling the ball into the path of Holden, who sidefooted into the roof of the net from close range. However Sturridge was unable to keep the ball in play and the linesman's flag goes up - correctly (I think).

80 min: The disallowed goal probably won't matter though. Everton have more or less given up the chase and Osman's wild shot from 30 yards out does nothing to improve the situation.

83 min: Finally Jaaskelainen is forced into action. A high free-kick is nodded down by Fellaini and Arteta intelligently touches the ball delicately to Baxter on the right. Just outside the area, he turns adroitly and drags a low shot towards the bottom left corner, but Jaaskelainen tips the ball wide expertly.

84 min: Baxter has just got a little carried away after that shot and tries to replicate the Beckham-Scholes combination against Bradford in 2000 with Baines, but with predictably lamentable results. It was only one shot! Baxter's got a way to go yet before he can start doing stuff like that.

87 min: Everton should be worried about this. They've been so lethargic, completely short of ideas and lacking in any sort of end product up front. The difference has essentially been Bolton's attacking options. For Everton, Anichebe is far from good enough, Beckford is raw and Saha is injured, duh.

88 min: They probably won't go down though. There's too much rubbish down there. They'll grit it out - but I doubt Moyes will be there next season. Lee chips a cross to the edge of the area and Sturridge, buoyed by his goal, tries to hook a volley into the top-left corner, but his technique and aim are both awry. "This seems quite a low-skill match on at least one side, even though it is between two mid-table clubs," says Paul Szabo. "Seems that only the top-level clubs get past early-season inconsistency and settle into winning ways, while everyone else can grade anywhere in the B+ to D- range from game to game. Must drive a manager nuts."

89 min: Unlucky! Kevin Davies, who has been excellent in an English forward sense if not in the way I usually like to use the word 'excellent', again uses his strength to nod down for Elmander, who steps inside on the edge of the area and larrumps a fierce effort just over the angle of post and bar.

90 min: Sturridge is enjoying himself now. He's a terrific talent, you know, definitely one to watch. Everton's heads have completely gone now, and Tim Cahill plays a loose pass to Sturridge 25 yards from goal. His confidence up, he opens up his body and curls a fine first-time left-footer just past the left post. That's his last act too, as he's replaced by Fabrice Muamba.

Peep! Peep! Peep! Lee Probert blows for full-time - and I think I heard muted boos from the Everton fans who had bothered to stay to the end. All is not well. A huge victory for Bolton after just one win in six. The points here keeps them eighth, albeit back in contention for a Europa League place, just three points behind Liverpool. Everton stay three points above the relegation zone. They're not going down though ... right? Thanks for all your emails and thanks for reading. Bye.

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Labels: Bolton, Everton, Guardian, Wanderers