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BOLTON WANDERERS WIN 2-1 ON AGGREGATE Bolton earned a comfortable 1-0 victory over FK Rabotnicki at the Reebok to see them into the group stages of the UEFA Cup. The result saw the Trotters advance 2-1 on aggregate after they were fortunate to escape with a draw from Macedonia two weeks ago. Sammy Lee made several changes to the side which drew at Derby over the weekend, opting to leave Nicolas Anelka and El-Hadji Diouf on the bench. Surprise starts were handed to Lubomir Michalik and Danny Guthrie, while Christian Wilhelmsson and Daniel Braaten both began the game on the flanks. The hosts had the first chance of the game, Mikel Alonso's cross from the right asked just too much of Kevin Davies at the back post who couldn't quite stretch far enough to make decent enough contact with the ball. Moments later, Rabotnicki had their first real effort of the game, the ball setting up nicely for Nderim Nedzipi to strike from 25-yards with Jussi Jaaskelainen turning the ball away for a corner. Wanderers almost took the lead just after the half hour, Guthrie's corner was met well by Davies but his header was cleared off the line as the hosts kept searching for the breakthrough. Bolton kept pushing and were almost rewarded on 35 minutes with Guthrie testing the goalkeeper at his near post with a smart free kick after Lazar Stanisic brought down Braaten 25 yards from goal. The two teams went in level at the break, but with only one side looking like being victorious on the night and in the tie. Half-time saw Lee replace Alonso with Stelios Giannakopoulos who almost scored with his first action, picking up a flick on from Davies before rounding Pacovski in the Rabotnicki goal only to see his effort cleared off the line. But it was another substitute who put Wanderers infront with his first touch, Anelka replaced Davies on 66 minutes and just two minutes later, the Frenchman peeled off Stanisic at the back post to nod home a delightful cross from Stelios. Diouf replaced Braaten on 75 minutes, but neither side looked like scoring again and Bolton held on to book their place in the group stages of the competition. The result sees Sammy Lee's men extend their unbeaten run to five games with Chelsea travelling to the Reebok in the Premier League on Sunday. |
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