Bolton got their first away win since April 2007 and kept a third successive clean sheet as they beat Reading 2-0 at the Madejski Stadium.
Goals from Kevin Nolan and Heidar Helguson earned Bolton a win despite seeing Matt Taylor’s early penalty saved by Marcus Hahnemann.
Lita had the first big chance of the game after a slip up in the Bolton defence but Jussi rushed out to stop the England Under 21 striker. But Bolton wasted a huge chance when Gretar Steinsson was brought down by Matejovsky in the area, but Matt Taylor didn’t hit the ball convincingly and Hahnemann dived to his left to save.
Bolton continued pressing and found the lead after 33 minutes when Kevin Davies headed Jaaskelainen’s long clearance into Nolan’s path and the skipper finished well into the bottom corner.
After the break Reading dominated but Bolton defended excellently to keep them at bay. Danny Guthrie nodded a shot off the line and Gary Cahill had an excellent performance on his debut. And despite the pressure, Bolton managed to get a second when Heidar Helguson beat the offside trap to poke the ball home and seal the win.
Reading had a few more chances, and Jaaskelainen made a good save from a free kick, but they never looked like they were going to pull two goals back, and Bolton held on for their first away win since beating Wigan 3-1 at the JJB last April.
It was a huge win in the context of where we are in the table compared with Reading and it is a great result.
We needed the second goal because in the second half they put under a lot of pressure. They put a lot of balls into the box and in the main we dealt with them well.
- Gary Megson
