Liverpool Res 1 Bolton Res 0 (Feb 22 2007)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL RES 1 Bolton Res 0

Report by Pete Schulz at the Racecourse Ground

Scorer(s) - Paul Anderson Half Time - 0-0 Venue - Racecourse Ground, Wrexham Date - Thu 22 Feb 2007 Star Man - Nabil El Zhar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New recruit Francisco Duran made his debut as Liverpool reserves deservedly beat Bolton’s second string 1-0 at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on Thursday night. Fellow new boys Emilio Insua and Jordy Brouwer also made appearances, but it was Paul Anderson’s goal midway through the second half which sealed the three points for the reds.


Still without Daniele Padelli, David Martin kept his place in goal behind a mainly Spanish speaking back four of Insua, Paletta, Roque. Only Stephen Darby at right back would probably prefer to speak English. The midfield consisted of Anderson, Peltier, Guthrie and Duran, with Lindfield and El Zhar starting up front.

The reds could have been two goals up after just three minutes as Anderson missed two good opportunities. The first, after just twelve seconds, came as he raced through the defence on the left, but his shot was high and wide.

The second effort came after the promising Duran had played a glorious crossfield ball over the head of the Bolton fullback, but this time the winger’s low shot fizzed a foot wide of the far post.

The reds had more chances, but gradually Bolton started to get into the game and Zoltan Harsanyi at left wing was presented with three very good openings, but each time failed to find David Martin’s net. The first two were poor headers, and the third a weak shot.

Emilio Insua was getting forward at every opportunity and looked very composed on the ball. He is not the tallest of players, but he has broad shoulders and looks very strong for his size. His shot on 17 minutes, however, nearly hit the corner flag.

By then he had already managed to find El Zhar with a fantastic first time cross, but the Moroccan had strayed a yard offside – and his effort was over anyway.

As the half wore on, Gary Ablett made a tactical change with El Zhar dropping back to the wing position allowing Duran to play in his more favoured role in the middle. The two combined well on the edge of the box with some nice trickery, but in the end El Zhar was again adjudged to have been offside.

Ablett made no changes at half time, and the second half started very slowly. Craig Lindfield missed a couple of opportunities around the hour mark as the reds started to take control of proceedings.

First he was sent through on the right by Danny Guthrie and three minutes later the captain found Insua bursting forward in space. The Argentinian’s excellent through ball found Lindfield, but again the striker’s effort was weak. You can’t fault Lindfield’s effort as he never fails to give one hundred percent, but he seems to be going through a rough patch in front of goal at the moment.

Within a minute, Ablett brought on Brouwer in place of the tiring Duran to switch back to 4-4-2 and to try and win the game. It really is no wonder Ablett left Everton. His footballing philosophy obviously must have clashed with the man in charge at Goodison Park.

Five minutes after the change, Ablett reaped the dividends. Brouwer started a move, which eventually saw El Zhar neatly flicking the ball into the path of an onrushing Guthrie. The captain’s square pass found an unmarked Paul Anderson and this time the winger made no mistake. 1-0.

Bolton struggled to find a response although they got more physical. The referee missed an elbow in the face of El Zhar and Guthrie then arrived late with a shoulder barge on a Bolton player as he looked for retribution. That didn’t go down too well with the big defender Jaroslaw Fojut, but he hadn’t accounted for Lee Peltier when he went to give Guthrie a piece of his mind. Guthrie was booked, but amazingly, no other cards were shown.

A little later, midfielder Matt Cassidy stood on El Zhar’s arm as the two had tussled for a ball. Again the Greek referee, Mr P Quinn, missed it, but two minutes later he had to book Cassidy, this time for a late lunge on Paletta who isn’t exactly someone you want to make your enemy.

The little Moroccan soldiered on and helped create another chance, this time for Peltier. The midfielder flicked the ball over the first Bolton challenge but then hit his half volley half a yard over the Bolton goal. The ball dipped a couple of yards too late or it could have been a magnificent goal.

Bolton never mounted any pressure on the comfortable reds backline, and manager Ablett could be pleased with his side’s overall effort.


Team: Martin; Darby, Roque, Paletta, Insua; Duran (Brouwer), Peltier, Guthrie, Anderson; El Zhar, Lindfield: