Bolton line-up: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Robinson, Knight, Ricketts, Muamba (M.Davies, 63'), Holden, Petrov (Taylor, 92'), Lee (Blake, 93'), Elmander, K.Davies
Manchester United line-up: Van Der Sar, O'Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Nani, Scholes, Fletcher (Owen, 71'),Giggs (Park, 53'), Berbatov, Rooney (Macheda, 61')
With both Chelsea and Arsenal losing yesterday, Manchester United had a great opportunity to gain some ground at the Reebok Stadium against Bolton. Which for the first three minutes they looked like they were going to take it. However Bolton got back into the game and Manchester United became sloppy in their possession and even sloppier in their defence, echoing their previous three Premier League outings. United have been giving away late goals so far this season, but toady they gave away an early goal; Zat Knight flicking the ball, unmarked, from a corner into the bottom corner where Evra should have been on the post. United were creating chances but again, as has been the case so far this season, the final ball just couldn't materialise or the set piece was wasted. Bolton themselves were looking good in possession and Elmander and Davies were both creating chances for themselves. United did equalise after 23 minutes thanks to a fantastic solo run by Nani, which started from inside his own half beating five players before slotting the ball into the bottom corner. Manchester United then started to dictate terms as Bolton looked to tire towards the end of the half.
The second half continued in the same vain as United were dominating in possession but not creating chances from the final ball. Corners were especially poor today with none of them reaching further than the near post. That would be crucial as Bolton again successfully cleared a corner to Petrov and a counter attack ensued, this lead to Petrov being given the ball on the edge of the box and thanks to a deflection off Fletcher, Bolton were back in the lead after 67 minutes. Worse news for United was that Giggs (hamstring) and Rooney (ankle) had been taken off beforehand and are doubts for Wednesday's Champions League tie at Valencia. With Park and Macheda on in replace of the injured duo, the last throw of the dice came in the form of Michael Owen, and boy did it pay dividends. Three minutes after coming on Nani whipped in a free-kick and Owen flicked the ball into the net with his first touch of the match, this brought United level and gave Owen his 200th career goal. The final score finished 2-2 putting United to within a point of Chelsea and remain unbeaten so far this season. Bolton are now twelfth in the table.
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