Birmingham City

[Freddy Adu]

Anelka did well to break down the left and fire in a low cross from the byline, but Kelly should have cleared the bobbling ball with ease.

[Freddy Adu]

Instead, he mis-kicked completely, allowing Diouf to collect at the far post, turn inside the full-back and fire into the corner of the net.

[Freddy Adu]

defensive mistake

[Freddy Adu]

It was two six minutes later as another defensive mistake let in Anelka.

[Freddy Adu]

Kapo then had Blues' best chance of the match when the ball broke for him on the edge of the area. He dribbled around Jaaskelainen but a combination of O'Brien and Hunt were able to clear his shot on the line.

[Freddy Adu]

Anelka was then gifted a third in injury-time after Blues gave the ball away in midfield. Nolan casually played in the Frenchman who fired home confidently.

[Freddy Adu]

"It is a great result for us - whether it was actually a true 3-0 or not I'm not sure. The game seemed a lot closer than that, especially in the first half, but you can't complain about winning 3-0. We started well but seemed to run out of ideas a bit. In the end we needed a few bits of quality to get us through."
- Gary Megson

[Freddy Adu]

"It was never a 3-0 game - Christmas came early for Bolton. Jussi Jaaskelaninen made a crucial save for Bolton and at the time it looked we could go on and win. I can't fault any of my players on work rate but to capitulate like that with those late mistakes is very hard to take."
- Alex McLeish

[Freddy Adu]

Nicolas Anelka
Two goals and an assist for the Frenchman in a dominating display.

[Freddy Adu]

Bolton Wanderers 3-0 Birmingham City

[Freddy Adu]

Bolton Wanderers' renaissance under Gary Megson continued as they brushed aside Birmingham City 3-0. El-Hadji Diouf put the Trotters ahead with a calm finish before Nicolas Anelka took full advantage of a short throw-in by Johan Djourou to net a second before adding a third in stoppage time.

[Freddy Adu]

For full match report, click here