Carlos Tevez struck an early winner as a frustrated Manchester City edged past Bolton with a 1-0 win.
Early goal enough as City claim the points
Carlos Tevez struck an early winner as a frustrated Manchester City edged past Bolton Wanderers with a 1-0 win at Eastlands.
City were on song against Owen Coyle's side, but Jussi Jaaskelainen was in inspired form and kept Roberto Mancini's side at bay after Tevez's early strike.
Bolton were caught high up the field and Yaya Toure's delightful through-ball was collected by Tevez who stroked his effort past Jaaskelainen inside the far post.
The Finnish shot-stopper then made save after save and with City having failed to put the game beyond doubt they were made to sweat out the closing stages following Aleksandar Kolarov's dismissal.
Bolton pushed numbers forward late on, but City's defence held firm to claim the three points which moves them to within a point of third-placed Chelsea.
Tevez did not have long to wait until making the breakthrough. Yaya Toure slipped the ball through the middle in the fourth minute and Gary Cahill failed to deal with it.
That allowed the club captain to drill a shot into the corner for City's first goal at home since October.
City then made an unsuccessful appeal for a penalty in the 14th minute when Silva's shot was blocked by Cahill. TV replays showed the ball had come off the defender's shoulder and his arm, although there was little intent.
Responded
Bolton responded and goalkeeper Joe Hart did well three minutes later to turn a free-kick from former City winger Martin Petrov around the post.
City were having the majority of possession but Tevez in an attempt to win the ball off Sam Ricketts picked up a booking that will see him take a short break.
Then Pablo Zabaleta got into a good position in the area and attempted to lob Jaaskelainen. But he made mess of it, scooping the ball up and it was easily blocked.
City kept up the pressure and Tevez was being afforded too much room in and around the area. The striker got on the end of a cross from Zabaleta but sent his effort over the bar before miskicking in sight of goal.
Bolton carved out a good chance in the 47th minute when Kevin Davies fired a shot narrowly over the bar following a cross from Ricketts.
Zabaleta, however, nearly made it 2-0 in the 55th minute following a sweeping move that cut Bolton open.
It was started by Silva, who was putting in a hard shift. He picked out Yaya Toure and he played the ball on to Zabaleta.
The full-back made good contact but Cahill was well positioned and cleared it to safety.
Impact
Bolton were being over-run at this stage and Mario Balotelli was beginning to make an impact after a quiet first half.
He smacked one effort against the outside of the post before seeing another booted clear by Jaaskelainen.
Then Silva was out of luck in the 61st minute with a quick turn and shot that rattled the bar.
Bolton were struggling but Johan Elmander tried his luck with an overhead kick four minutes later that ended in the arms of goalkeeper Hart.
They almost equalised in the 71st minute following an error by Hart, who climbed on the back of Joleon Lescott when Ricketts delivered a free-kick from distance.
The ball finished behind the England goalkeeper but luckily for him Vincent Kompany cleared off the line.
City were then reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute with Kolarov picking up his second booking of the game for a challenge on Ricketts.
Tevez then vented his anger at Mancini as City went on to seal a narrow win.
| Manchester City | Team Statistics | Bolton Wanderers |
| 1 | Goals | 0 |
| 1 | 1st Half Goals | 0 |
| 7 | Shots on Target | 1 |
| 9 | Shots off Target | 7 |
| 5 | Blocked Shots | 5 |
| 8 | Corners | 8 |
| 12 | Fouls | 20 |
| 5 | Offsides | 1 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 1 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 83.5 | Passing Success | 63.8 |
| 17 | Tackles | 21 |
| 82.4 | Tackles Success | 85.7 |
| 58.6 | Possession | 41.4 |
| 48.4 | Territorial Advantage | 51.6 |
|
