The penultimate stop on the Tigers Premier League journey took us to the impressive Reebok Stadium in Bolton. For the second time this season, City created chance after chance against our hosts but unlike the encounter in October, the Tigers left Bolton with a precious, precious point.
The City line-up was tinkered with again. In an enforced change, Kevin Kilbane started at centre back in place of Kamil Zayatte, presumably due to the head injury suffered against Stoke last week. Up front, Manucho came in for Cousin while Geovanni filled the gap left by Kilbane. The line-up was kind of a 4-4-2, with Manucho and Fagan up front and Garcia playing as an orthodox right winger. Geovanni generally covered the left hand side but did switch with Barmby at times. We matched up well against Bolton's 4-4-2 and had the better of the first half. They didn't have the composure of most teams in defence and so by pressing quickly in the midfield, particularly through Boateng, we were able to rush their game and force them into mistakes. From the back, they pushed the ball forward quickly and Davies and Elmander proved a handful but our back four did a fine job of picking up the balls laid off by them. George Boateng was a giant throughout the game. He may be slower these days but his reading of the game and his energy is as great as ever. He covered every inch of the pitch and was the catalyst for a much, much improved City performance. Bolton looked like a team with little to play for and our desire to take the game to them was obvious. The excellent Matt Taylor barely touched the ball from open play, while Davies and Elmander were kept very quiet. Davies played his usual game, cheating when he had possession and general thuggery without it. He really is a hideous footballer, one with obvious talent but a greater desire to bend the rules and hurt opponents. Chances were few throughout the half but City consistently worked excellent positions, mainly on the right hand side where Ricketts and Garcia teamed up superbly to create 5 or 6 superb crossing opportunities in the first half alone. Manucho had a tame header saved easily by Jaaskelainen while Geo connected at the back post with a downward header that was aimed straight at the Finn. That would be the story of our afternoon. Turner headed over from a corner when he might've done better, Barmby headed wide from a Dawson delivery after everyone had missed the ball, which was traveling at speed and we had a decent shout for a penalty when a grounded Muamba almost caught the ball in the area. Nothing doing though. To be fair, there were one or two other Bolton handball's that went unpunished but three obvious handball's by City players were missed too.
Around 25 minutes, City looked well in control of the game and were asking all of the questions when we were undone by a Bolton break away. Muamba carried the ball out of defence and found Davies, who played in Elmander. His tame shot was blocked by Dawson but ricocheted to Steinsson who was following up, about 25 yards out. As Manucho made absolutely no effort to close him down, the Icelandic full-back with the stupid haircut hit a fizzing daisy cutter beyond Myhill and into the far corner. Disaster. We responded immediately with another superb move down the right ending with Ricketts skinning J'Lloyd Samuel and pulling back a lovely ball for Manucho who could only blast over from 8 yards. He should definitely have scored. The referee gave us a corner, indicating a deflection off Steinsson but it looked generous, it certainly appeared that Manucho had just wellied the ball over. His all round game was as abysmal as that finish. Despite being in the ascendancy, we were pegged back in the four minutes off stoppage time, accumulated from an injury to Shittu, who took an arm in the face from Manucho, and also to Dawson, who was lucky to escape serious injury when Davies followed through after the left-back cleared a ball forward. No yellow card though, not for lovely old Mr. Davies. We reached half time just the one behind thanks to Geovanni who somehow cleared Davies' header off the goal line from a left wing corner.
Whatever Phil Brown said in the dressing room had the desired effect as a motivated City outfit strode out for the second half and after riding our luck ever so slightly, took a stranglehold on the game. A long ball forward was sheparded back towards his goalkeeper by Shittu but the ever willing Fagan chased him down, gave him a nudge and caused him to lose control of the ball. In one movement, Fagan nicked the ball, turned and planted it into the vacant goal net. A very much deserved equaliser that caused pandemonium in the away end. With the news filtering through before half time that Newcastle were behind and then further news of a Villa equaliser at Middlesborough and Newcastle being reduced to ten men, we thought it might just be our day. That thought evaporated when a flurry of chances went begging. City dominated the half, Bolton's forward line were mere spectators. Because of the severity of the situation, every break by the team in white caused alarm but it was well dealt with by Giant George and the terrific back four behind him. Going forward, we continued to splice them open down our right time and again. Manucho improved after the break, it wasn't really possible not to, and made decent runs across the front of their defence which lead to us winning more corners. His touch was a bit neater and Barmby and Geovanni really came into the game. A cross form the right was headed out to Barmby who hit his shot into the ground but it bounced up onto the post and then the cross bar before evading Fagan. Sub Dean Marney made room for a shot but hit it tamely at Jaaskelainen. Geo hit a more powerful shot straight at the 'keeper but he fumbled the ball and Marney pounced on the rebound and went around the goalie. His touch took him wide and he could only roll the ball agonizingly across the goal line. Fagan got in down the left and also rolled the ball across the goal line. A Dawson set piece delivery from the right was headed down by Turner or Cousin and looked in for all the world but somehow shot up into the air, possibly off the cross bar. We introduced Halmosi late on and his first act was to beat two defenders and cross beautifully into the box where Fagan dived to head across Jaaskelainen. Not for the first time this season, the Finn was equal to it and pushed the ball away. In the midst iof all that, we'd had another escape when a harmless header was dropping wide before Manucho deflected it towards our goal. Luckily, Fagan booted it off the line. The last ten minutes faded away, a mixture of scrappy play and a stream of substitutions killing any rhythm and our chances of taking three points.
Myhill had little to do overall. He made one fine save low to his right at 1-0 that kept us in the game and had to punch away a corner at his near post. The punch was weak but directed away from goal. His kicking was dreadful at times, booting the ball out of play three times under little pressure and hitting another one into no-man's land when Manucho was waiting. Ricketts had a fine game. There wasn't a great deal of defending for him to do, though he did make two good interceptions in our box, so he could concentrate on getting forward, which he did with tremendous effect. His end product matched the build up too. Dawson was equally solid and was quite effective going forward but did so much less than Ricketts. His poor control still annoys me but he put in a brave performance and continued despite a heavy blow to his left foot. His set piece delivery was much better. Turner was as terrific as always and looked to enjoy the physical battle with Davies and Elmander. He definitely gave as good as got. His ability to bring the ball out of defence is much improved this season and his calm under pressure is remarkable. At one point, Ricketts got caught up field and Turner covered him at right back, and then read the Bolton through ball, stepped back toward his usual position and calmly headed back to Myhill. He's remarkable. Kilbane had a quiet first half, not really getting near Elmander but getting away with it due to the rarity of Bolton attacks. At times in the second half, they were able to throw the ball into the box and he coped well with them.
It's hard to do justice to the performance of Boateng, who was amazing. Everything from his use of the ball to his ability to see and track runs was perfect and he kept us playing all the time, playing the ball quickly and neatly to keep us on the front foot. Barmby was almost as good for the first hour, putting in an incredible amount of work off the ball and covering across the pitch as well as up and down. On the ball, he was quiet for a long time but really came into the game in the second half and used the ball really well and read a lot of clearances, putting himself in the position to collect the ball and restart the attack. He was very unlucky not to score. Geovanni was quiet by his standards and floated around without ever really affecting our play. He played some nice passes and made a couple of jinking runs but was well watched. Garcia was terrific. His work rate was superb, he was strong in possession, he delivered the ball brilliantly and he found a great understanding with Ricketts. When we were in danger of losing our way in the first half, he switch places with Barmby for 5 minutes and ran the game, picking the ball up in the middle and playing superb passes out to both wings. I thought it was an odd decision to put him back out wide. Marney did Ok when he came on, as did Halmosi. Both had a positive impact on the team and both were unlucky not to make a winning goal. With Marney, I'd still love to see him run at defenders in the last third because he's got great feet and a good change of pace and he could really hurt them.
We were weak up front for the most part. Fagan was superb again, harassing defenders, working off the ball and using it well when he added. He wasn't helped by having the bumbling Manucho alongside him for the most part. Manucho is a threat when the ball comes into the box in the air but is otherwise almost useless. He's not strong enough and doesn't win anything in the air and he's a waste of space when we lose possession. One of the remarkable things about Manchester United players in recent years has been the incredible work ethic they have but this guy just doesn't have it. Cousin wasn't a great improvement but did nearly nick it with his aerial threat. Both Manucho and Cousin have talent (mostly hidden in Manucho's case) but could both do to take something from Garcia and Fagan whose work ethic puts both to shame.
The point looks a very decent one considering the other results. Three would have been very handy and should've been achieved but there's nothing we can do about that now. It's important that we have things in our hands for next week. It's pretty simple really. If we beat Manchester United, we'll be safe (assuming West Brom go down to Liverpool tomorrow). That situation was always likely wasn't it? It feels like it's been fated since the day the fixtures came out. If we don't win the game, we'll have to sit and hope the others don't better our result. The much improved performance and the valuable point gives us hope again. Newcastle have to go to Aston Villa, minus their best defender, while Middlesbrough have to go to West Ham, win and overturn a 4 goal deficit on City. If West Brom do survive tomorrow, they go to Blackburn. We're set for a very tense and very unpredictable final day. What matters most though, is that City are in the mix and in a decent position. Beating Man United seems ever so unlikely but it's certainly possible. If the City support is as great as it was in the South Stand at the Reebok Stadium today, we might just inspire them to the greatest result in our history. Never stop believing.
Ratings: Myhill 7, Ricketts 8, Dawson 7, Turner 8, Kilbane 7, Garcia 8, Geovanni 7 (Cousin), Barmby 8 (Marney), Boateng 9, Fagan 8, Manucho 5 (Halmosi).