Bolton held by Braga

By Andrew Scurr

Image: Diouf: Gave Bolton the lead

Gary Megson watched on as Bolton drew 1-1 with Braga in the Uefa Cup group stage at The Reebok Stadium.

Diouf header cancelled out by Jailson

Gary Megson watched on as Bolton drew 1-1 with Braga in the Uefa Cup group stage at The Reebok Stadium. Substitute El Hadji Diouf looked to have given Bolton the three points with a 66th minute header, but Jailson equalised for the Portuguese side with four minutes remaining.

Slow start

Nicolas Anelka and Cesar Peixoto exchanged early free-kicks with forced fairly routine saves from Paulo Santos and Jussi Jaaskelainen respectively. Anelka was at the heart of everything good from Bolton and he set up Kevin Davies in the 21st minute with a floated cross but the stand-in captain's header flew over. Bolton's top scorer should have done better midway through the first half when Alberto Rodriguez's slip let him in one-on-one with Santos. However, the Frenchman tried his luck with an attempted chip from 30 yards out which sailed straight into the arms of the back-tracking Braga goalkeeper. Wender fired straight at Jaaskelainen with a rare chance for Braga, before Gary Speed sent a header off target after being picked out by Anelka. Braga opened up Bolton on 64 minutes with Wender playing in Jorginho but the Brazilian forward fired straight at Jaaskelainen from a tight angle.
Deadlock broken
The Trotters finally made the breakthrough midway through the second half when Diouf headed home from close range at the back post from Davies' clever cross. The visitors had a strong penalty claim turned down with 20 minutes remaining as Andy O'Brien appeared to bring down Ze Manuel in the area. Peixoto then gave Bolton another scare with a swerving shot from just outside the box which produced a wonderful one-handed stop from Jaaskelainen. Davies struck the outside of the woodwork with a drive five minutes from time and Braga went up the other end and equalised with a looping header from Jailson. Gerald Cid sent a strike straight at Santos and Gavin McCann volleyed wide in stoppage time, but Bolton could not find a late winner.
Bolton Wanderers Team Statistics Sporting Braga
1 Goals 1
0 1st Half Goals 0
4 Shots on Target 5
6 Shots off Target 7
3 Blocked Shots 1
2 Corners 6
19 Fouls 17
5 Offsides 3
1 Yellow Cards 1
0 Red Cards 0
68.2 Passing Success 70.1
22 Tackles 16
72.7 Tackles Success 81.2
52.8 Possession 47.2
52.1 Territorial Advantage 47.9
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