Frandsen strike inspires Bolton
Bolton Wanderers 1 Manchester City
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Your support makes all the difference.Wanderers' supporters, still lamenting the loss of Sasa Curcic, found a new foreign import to celebrate when the Dane Per Frandsen scored the goal that gave them victory at Burnden Park last night in a vigorous derby between the two Lancashire sides relegated from the Premiership.
Frandsen earned Bolton the three points they deserved with a ferocious left-footed shot three minutes into the second half, and his overall performance went a long way towards dispelling the gloom cast by the departure of the crowd's previous favourite.
There is none of Curcic's stealth and delicacy about Frandsen. Big and boisterous, he sets out to dominate midfield through his sheer physical presence, though he showed that he has a nice touch as well as a thunderous shot by setting up Nathan Blake for what should have been Bolton's second goal 15 minutes from the end.
Frandsen's compatriot Michael Johansen - the little Dane as opposed to the great Dane - also created a good impression. A red-haired scuttler not unlike the City manager, Alan Ball, in his playing days, Johansen was part of a thoroughly workmanlike midfield which was not only too strong for City but which also bodes well for the season ahead.
City's usual inspiration, Georgi Kinkladze, on the other hand, spent far too much time on the fringes of the action and only sparked fitfully. His side's other main failing, though not one for which he was responsible, was the 26 free-kicks they gave away, most of them for reckless or clumsy challenges.
The impression of Bolton as the more composed side grew in a first half during which Jimmy Phillips hit the bar and John McGinlay had a goal disallowed for offside. They blossomed in confidence after Frandsen's strike and had chances to have won more comfortably.
In the end, Bolton's missed opportunities - with Blake the worst offender - hardly mattered against a City side which found it overwhelmingly difficult to get out of its own half in the search for an equaliser.
Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): Branagan; Green, Fairclough, Taggart, Phillips; Johansen, Frandsen, Thompson, Sellars (Lee, 64); Blake, McGinlay. Substitutes not used: Taylor, Todd.
Manchester City (4-4-2): Immel; Hiley, Brightwell, Symons, Frontzeck (Summerbee, 63); Lomas, Clough (Phillips, 70), Brown, Kinkladze; Rosler, Kavelashvili. Substitute not used: Margetson (gk).
Referee: D Allison (Lancaster).
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