A hard-fought Lancashire derby ended all square as Wigan and Bolton battled out a goalless draw.
Latics and Bolton settle for clean sheet and a point
Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen earned Bolton a vital point as his side played out an entertaining 0-0 draw against Wigan at the JJB Stadium.
Either team could have come away with all three points, with the hosts dominating before the break and Wigan having the better chances after the interval.
Hugo Rodallega, Mido and Charles N'Zogbia all went close for Wigan in the opening 45 minutes as Bolton relied on Jaaskelainen to keep the score level.
Johan Elmander saw a deflected drive go inches wide of Chris Kirkland's right-hand post after the break and Tamir Cohen also headed over from just a few yards out.
The result leaves Wigan on 42 points in 11th place, with Bolton just one place and three points adrift.
It could have been very different if Wigan had converted any number of gilt-edged chances.
Finnish goalkeeper Jaaskelainen twice denied Rodallega, once with the aid of a post, and also tipped over Mido's long-range effort.
However, the crossbar came to Wigan's rescue before the interval when Bolton defender Gary Cahill's deflected strike rebounded back of the woodwork.
That the match should end goalless was no great surprise, with Wigan having scored just seven times since the turn of the year.
In-form
However, Latics manager Steve Bruce must be cursing his luck as his team came up against an in-form Jaaskelainen who kept Bolton in the game in the first half.
In only the second minute Jaaskelainen was almost embarrassed by Rodallega's left-footed strike.
The Colombian striker picked up Mido's backheel on the edge of the penalty area and quickly switched feet before firing in a low shot which the Bolton goalkeeper allowed to squirm from his grasp but luckily for him it rebounded off a post.
For a match which had no significance at either end of the table there was a lively atmosphere and Kevin Davies raised the temperature with a crunching but fair tackle on Mido.
The pair briefly went head to head near the touchline before referee Mike Jones stepped in to calm the situation.
Jaaskelainen was in action again in the 10th minute, tipping N'Zogbia's left-footed drive around the post.
But Wigan almost went behind when goalkeeper Chris Kirkland's punch at Gavin McCann's inswinging free-kick only just cleared the penalty area and Cahill's volley clipped Maynor Figueroa and rebounded off the crossbar.
Rodallega, still awaiting his first goal after a £5million January transfer from Mexican club Necaxa, saw his second chance of the afternoon from Antonio Valencia's flick-on saved low by Jaaskelainen in the 14th minute.
Battle
Bolton changed from a 4-3-3 formation to 4-4-2 to match their opponents and that helped them gain more of a foothold in midfield, where a keenly-contested battle saw McCann was yellow-carded for going through the back of Michael Brown and Mido booked for nudging McCann.
Chances still continued to come in the latter stages of the half and three minutes before the interval Elmander should have done better after dispossessing Figueroa on the edge of the penalty area but drove into the side-netting.
Jaaskelainen's one-handed save then denied Mido's 25-yard curling effort while, in first-half injury time, Matt Taylor's close-range strike was ruled out for offside.
Wigan's defensive unit was severely hampered by the loss of both Mario Melchiot and Paul Scharner within eight minutes of the restart, with Emmerson Boyce and Erik Edman sent on as replacements.
The first chance of the second half fell to Rodallega but the Colombian's header from Valencia's right-wing cross was weak and dropped into Jaaskelainen's arms.
Kirkland had to be alert to block McCann's close-range effort at the far post as the action swiftly changed ends, with Mido then bobbling a half-volley wide from Rodallega's knockdown.
Bolton still posed a threat and Elmander's shot deflected off Titus Bramble and dropped just wide of Kirkland's right-hand post, with Cohen heading over McCann's subsequent corner.
Taylor was booked for almost ripping the shirt off Valencia's back as the Ecuador winger broke away.
Mido was replaced by compatriot Amr Zaki with 16 minutes to go as Bruce looked to make the breakthrough, while Gary Megson made his first change by sending on Mustapha Riga for the ineffectual Cohen.
Wigan continued to be the ones making the most chances and Brown should have done better when he headed N'Zogbia's inswinging cross wide.
However, the hosts could not afford to switch off and with five minutes to go Kirkland tipped Davies' header onto the crossbar but the Bolton striker had already been penalised for a foul.
Lee Cattermole's effort - ballooned over from the edge of the penalty area in injury time - summed up Wigan's fortunes in front of goal.
| Wigan Athletic |
Team Statistics |
Bolton Wanderers |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 10 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 9 |
Corners |
6 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 72.2 |
Passing Success |
66.4 |
| 20 |
Tackles |
26 |
| 60 |
Tackles Success |
69.2 |
| 55.8 |
Possession |
44.2 |
| 59.6 |
Territorial Advantage |
40.4 |
|
