Brilliant Bolton bury Addicks
Bolton got their season off to a flying start with a 4-1 win over Charlton.
Bolton got their season off to a flying start with two goals apiece from Jay-Jay Okocha and Henrik Pedersen inspiring them to a 4-1 win over Charlton.Okocha celebrated his birthday in style with two superb strikes in each half and Pedersen was not to be outdone with a brace of his own.
Bolton showed their intent from the first whistle and Kevin Davies forced Dean Kiely into a fine save low down to his left with a snap-shot in the opening seconds.
The home side went close again on five minutes with Bruno N'Gotty ghosting in unmarked onto Okocha's free kick, but he nodded his header into the ground and wide.
Bolton broke the deadlock five minutes later with Okocha netting his first Premiership goal in over a year with a stunning free kick from the edge of the area high into the net past Kiely to send the home fans into raptures.
Charlton suffered a blow a minute later when Matt Holland was forced off with an ankle injury.
Pedersen twice had chances to add to the scoring, but first he drilled a shot just wide before blazing over the crossbar from close-range after Charlton failed to clear a long throw-in.
The Danish striker did find the net on the half hour running clear onto Okocha's delicious through ball holding off a challenge before firing a left-footed shot past Kiely.
Charlton did not threaten Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal until 33 minutes when Jason Euell cut the ball back across the six-yard box for Kevin Lisbie, but the Finnish goalkeeper was quickly off his line to block the striker's shot.
Bolton started off the second half where they left off in the first and Davies and Pedersen both saw shots flash across the face of goal.
Okocha grabbed his second of the game on 59 minutes with a superb shot from the edge of the area which appeared to catch Kiely out as the keeper was late getting down to the shot.
The Bolton skipper was denied a hat-trick after 64 minutes when his free kick was headed off the line by Shaun Bartlett.
Charlton gave themselves hope on 67 minutes with Lisbie pulling a goal back with a simple header from Danny Murphy's corner.
Bolton restored their three-goal cushion five minutes later with Pedersen cutting inside Hermann Hreidarsson before firing his left-footed shot beyond the dive of Kiely.
| Team Name | Bolton Wanderers | Charlton Athletic |
| Goals | 4 | 1 |
| Shots on target ( Inc Goals ) | 11 | 5 |
| Shots off Target (inc woodwork) | 10 | 4 |
| Blocked Shots | 0 | 0 |
| Corners Won | 8 | 4 |
| Total Fouls Conceded | 10 | 13 |
| Offsides | 0 | 1 |
| Yellow Cards | 1 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Index Scores | #N/A! | #N/A! |
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