Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Cardiff City: Thierry Gale header seals late win

Thierry Gale's 90th-minute header gave Bolton Wanderers a late victory against Cardiff City at Toughsheet Community Stadium.

The visitors were left frustrated having had the better of proceedings, as Bolton regularly had goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to thank for keeping them level before they snatched victory.

It ended a run of four consecutive defeats for Bolton as they climbed to 17th in the Championship, while Cardiff's wait for a first league win continued after seven matches.

The Bluebirds started the better of the two sides, with early chances falling to Yousef Salech, Chris Willock and Joel Colwill.

The hosts grew into the game midway through the first half, as Samuel Iling Junior had Bolton's first shot on goal after 25 minutes, but it was comfortably saved by Nathan Trott.

Ruben Rodrigues was next to test the Cardiff goalkeeper with a long-range effort, but Trott tipped the shot around the post.

Bolton's best chance of the half came a minute later as Rodriguez sent Kylian Dong through on goal, but as the winger rounded Trott he threw himself to the ground and was booked by referee Tom Parsons for simulation.

After a quiet start to the second half it was the visitors who once again started to dominate, and they thought they had a penalty when Perry Ng went down in the box, but once again the referee brandished a yellow card for simulation.

Cardiff's best chance came on 66 minutes when Willock's delivery found a diving Salech, but the striker was denied by a brilliant reflex save from Bazunu, clawing the ball off the goal line.

The chances kept coming for the visitors, with Moylan the next Cardiff player to be denied by Bazunu after a tame effort from near the penalty spot.

And has so often been the case early this season, Cardiff were left to rue their missed opportunities as Bolton's two half-time substitutions made the game's telling impact.

Theo Bair, on loan at Bolton from Auxerre, dug out a cross from the left to the back post where Gale was left unmarked, and the Barbados international's header beat Trott into the bottom corner to spark jubilant scenes.

There was still time for one more chance for the Bluebirds, but Callum Robinson was denied a last-minute equaliser by yet another spectacular save from Bazunu, who tipped the substitute's effort over the bar.

Bolton enjoy playing host to Cardiff, having won 13 of their last 14 league meetings at Toughsheet Community Stadium against the Bluebirds - a run which stretches back to 1974.

There was also a strong sense of deja vu about Saturday's lunchtime win for the Trotters, who beat Cardiff in almost identical fashion last season.

Flashback to 11 months ago, and both sides were fighting for promotion in League One, with Cardiff sitting top of the table as they travelled to Lancashire.

Once again the game looked destined to end goalless, only for Amario Cozier-Duberry - now of Middlesbrough - to score a 94th-minute winner for the hosts.

Both side's ultimately secured promotion back to the Championship, but the change in tier had no impact on the result, with Gale's header proving the difference on this occasion.

Bolton's second win of the season helps lift them out of the bottom three and up to 17th, while Cardiff have much to ponder after losing another game which they could easily have won.

Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy called for his side to be more clinical ahead of Saturday's game, having watched his Bluebirds side lead the Championship for number of shots despite not winning a single game.

Saturday's defeat by Bolton will have only added to the concerns, with a number of players guilty of wasting quality chances.

Cardiff's next opportunity to find a first league win of the season comes next Saturday as they host Charlton Athletic, while Bolton travel to Norwich the following day.

Bolton Wanderers head coach Steven Schumacher told BBC Radio Manchester:

"It's a funny old game, football is mad! Over the last five games we've had to work incredibly hard, we played better in the previous four than we did today and got nothing for our efforts.

"We had to show a different side of us today which is really pleasing because it was difficult against a tough opponent who are hard to play against when you're tired.

"In this division you need goalkeepers that win you points, and today he [Gavin Bazunu] has done that. Cardiff created the clearer opportunities so you need your goalkeeper to make those saves for you and today he was outstanding."

Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy told BBC Radio Wales:

"To be perfectly honest we'd have been disappointed to be talking about a draw, so to be talking after a defeat is very hard on the players and our supporters.

"I felt in the first half we looked dangerous without being at our best, I asked for a lot in the second half and they put that into practice. We created enough chances to win many games but today we didn't take them.

"If we'd have drawn 0-0 we'd have been disappointed so to lose it is even more so."

Click here to read article