Simon Vukcevic's second-half equaliser saw honours finish even as Bolton were held to a 1-1 draw by Sporting Lisbon.
Vukcevic equaliser gives Portuguese away goal
Simon Vukcevic's second-half equaliser saw honours finish even at the Reebok Stadium as Bolton were held to a 1-1 draw by Sporting Lisbon.
Gavin McCann's 25th-minute strike gave Bolton a deserved half-time lead, but the visitors put in a much-improved performance after the break, with Vukcevic drawing the Portuguese outfit level in the 69th minute.
Neither side were able to claim a winner in the closing stages to leave the tie finely balanced heading into the return leg, although Sporting will be happier having claimed an away goal.
Bolton's preparations were rocked by the loss of goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, who was injured in the warm-up to give Oman international Ali Al Habsi just his fifth game for Bolton.
Hard-fought
A hard-fought opening saw both Sporting goalkeeper Rui Patricio and Bolton striker Heidar Helguson receive treatment before Sporting striker Joao Moutinho had a shot blocked by Nicky Hunt, but it was Hunt's long ball forward that led to the game's opening goal.
Helguson touched Kevin Davies' flick-on to Matt Taylor and although his shot was blocked, the ball fell kindly for McCann to send a cool side-footed finish into the bottom corner from just inside the area.
Sporting, who were without top scorer Liedson due to a thigh injury, made a positive response, with Leandro Grimi finding Moutinho in space in the Bolton box and the young striker curled a right-footed effort just over the bar.
Bolton regained control with Taylor firing narrowly wide from 20 yards after Hunt's cross was half-cleared before McCann, who is suspended for the second leg, blazed over from a Davies knock-down just before the break.
Another Davies knock-down caused havoc in the Sporting box shortly after the restart and Helguson, handed just his third start of the season, stooped to head against the underside of the crossbar.
Deserved equaliser
The Icelandic striker then made way for Stelios Giannakopoulos, and Sporting gained the ascendancy, with Grimi shooting narrowly over after cutting inside.
Sporting went even closer when Vukcevic fired against the crossbar in the 68th minute after another run inside, but just a minute later the Portuguese side got a deserved equaliser when Vukcevic exchanged passes with Rodrigo Tiui before firing past Al Habsi from just inside the box.
Vukcevic remained a threat and the Montenegrin midfielder latched onto substitute Leandro Romagnoli's pass to force a decent save from Al Habsi.
Bolton almost regained the lead when Taylor connected with Ivan Campo's 78th-minute corner but he could only direct his volley straight at Patricio, and the January recruit missed a similar effort late on from Hunt's diagonal ball to leave Sporting with the advantage.
| Bolton Wanderers |
Team Statistics |
Sporting Lisbon |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 5 |
Corners |
4 |
| 16 |
Fouls |
19 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 55 |
Possession |
45 |
|
