Neil Lennon was left ruing Bolton’s lack of creativity as Eidur Gudjohnsen turned back the years to rescue his side a point against Leeds United.
Wanderers were without a host of creative players, with Zach Clough joining the likes of Mark Davies and Max Clayton on the injury list and Chung-Yong Lee away with South Korea, and it showed against Leeds.
Wanderers were unfortunate to be behind no sooner than the game had kicked off, as referee Andy Woolmer awarded the visitors a dubious penalty after just two minutes. Sam Byram chased the impressive Lewis Cook’s hopeful ball forward into the penalty area and went down as Andy Lonergan rushed out to meet him, but it seemed the goalkeeper pulled out of the challenge and that Byram took a dive. The fact that the referee chose not to even caution Lonergan for denying a goalscoring opportunity tells you he wasn’t fully convinved it was a penalty. But Rodolph Austin stepped up and buried the penalty, leaving Wanderers with their work cut out.
The hosts struggled to respond to the late setback, and should have been two down within ten minutes but striker Steve Morison was brilliantly denied by Andy Lonergan after being gifted a glorious opportunity six yards out, right in front of the goal.
Wanderers began to regain their composure and seized control of the game. Emile Heskey – the elder statesman of Bolton’s 72-year-old strikeforce – was denied by a Charlie Taylor block, and Matt Mills soon after hit a post with a header.
Frustration began to boil as the age-old story of Wanderers wasting chances unfolded yet again. Gudjohnsen rustled the side netting with a clever free-kick, before Darren Pratley’s acrobatic volley was well saved by Leeds goalkeeper Marco Silvestri.
But the man of the moment stepped up three minutes into the second half. Pratley was brought down inside the box by Luke Murphy, giving Woolmer the perfect opportunity to redeem his first-half howler and he duly obliged in pointing to the spot. Gudjohnsen coolly dispatched the penalty to restore parity with his first goal in English football in nearly five years since scoring for Spurs against Stoke in March 2010.
Wanderers failed to really build on the lifeline offered to them. Despite Gudjohnsen going close with a fine volley, it was the visitors who almost nicked all three points as Lonergan was again the saviour from Byram’s late shot.
Another academy graduate was introduced to the Wanderers fans late on as 19-year-old Tom Walker replaced Gudjohnsen, one week after his fellow graduate Clough stole the show against Wigan. Lets hope Walker can have a similar impact in the first-team in the future, and that Clough can return to fitness soon.
Lennon admitted after the match that Bolton were lacking in creativity and the killer touch that would help us put away teams like Leeds. Emile Heskey, who turns 37 today, does a job, but he simply lacks the mobility and pace to really trouble Championship defences. Eidur still looks a class above the rest, but his age also restricts him. It will be no surprise to see Lennon dipping into the transfer market this week to add some much needed oomph to his Bolton squad.
Player Ratings
Andy Lonergan
Josh Vela
Tim Ream
Matt Mills
Dorian Dervitte
Neil Danns
Darren Pratley
Liam Trotter
Eidur Gudjohnsen
Emile Heskey
Liam Feeney
Craig Davies
David Wheater