Bolton secure lucky draw

Anelka: Difficult night

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• Nicolas Anelka
• Abdoulaye Meite

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Bolton rode their luck in a battling 1-1 draw with Rabotnicki Komeatal in the Uefa Cup.

Wanderers were thankful for a Abdoulaye Meite equaliser seven minutes from time in their first round first leg clash to ensure the tie stays evenly balanced for the return fixture at the Reebok Stadium in a fortnight.

Bolton were heading for their sixth defeat in seven games when Meite toe-poked the ball home, for his first goal of the season, after goalkeeper Filip Madzovski had fumbled a free-kick from Nicolas Anelka.

Manager Sammy Lee had reverted to 4-4-2 in a bid to change things around with Kevin Davies returning to partner Anelka.

However, it was Nemanja Milisavlevic who put Rabotnicki in the lead after 53 minutes when he rifled home after Ivan Trickovski had lofted the ball over a flat-footed Gerald Cid.

Early struggle

Bolton struggled in the early stages and looked vulnerable when Rabotnicki went on the counter-attack.

The home side almost opened the scoring in the 24th minute when goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen spilled a shot from Nderim Nedzipi, but Trickovski was unable to capitalise.

Bolton had plenty of possession but created only half-chances as Davies got clear of his marker in the 27th minute but failed to test the goalkeeper with his header following a corner from El-Hadji Diouf.

The Senegal international then squandered a good chance five minutes later when he got on the end of a loose effort from Kevin Nolan.

Anelka should have put Bolton ahead on the stroke of half-time when he latched onto a pass from Gary Speed and rounded Madzovski only to find the side netting.

Threat

The French international again threatened after the interval when he wriggled clear in the area in the 52nd minute only for Lazar Stanisic to make a crucial block.

Milisavlevic then stunned Bolton a minute later when he showed a cool head to give his side the lead.

Rabotnicki then almost doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Trickovski reached a long ball and clipped an effort past Jaaskelainen, who had raced off his line, but the attempt drifted narrowly over.

Bolton then came to life with Meite, Nolan and Anelka going close, but the equaliser still eluded the English side.

However, Bolton's goal finally came in the 83rd minute when Meite prodded home.

Bolton then pressed for the winner but had to settle for a share of the spoils on the night.