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Bolton 3-3 Manchester City: Tevez,Klasnic Double
Bolton shared a 3-3 draw with 10-man Manchester City in a pulsating Premier League encounter at the Reebok Stadium.
A brace from Ivan Klasnic and an inspired strike from Gary Cahill gave Bolton the lead three times as the hosts showed an attacking threat rarely seen in their indifferent displays so far this season.
But City showed immense character, despite their shocking defending and Craig Bellamy's red card, to haul themselves back on each occasion to salvage a point with Carlos Tevez netting a fine brace and Micah Richards also on target.
Bolton twice forced their way into the ascendancy in the first half, only for City to get back on terms, and Mark Hughes will count his side fortunate as they avoided only their second defeat in 15 league matches.
Gary Megson was under immense pressure midweek as his chairman Phil Gartside was forced to publicly back his manager, but it was his side who started by far the brighter as City were kept under the cosh early on.
Bolton's pressure was rewarded in the 11th minute as Matthew Taylor whipped in a devilish delivery from the left which Lee Chung-Yong drove back across from the far post, and Klasnic stole in to tap home from inside the six-yard box.
Tamir Cohen almost doubled the hosts' lead three minutes later with an overhead kick which drifted agonisingly over the bar after Kolo Toure failed to clear.
City suffered a blow a midway through the first half as Shaun Wright-Phillips was forced off after sustaining a knock, but Stephen Ireland was a persistent threat after he came on to replace the winger.
Hughes cut an agitated figure on the touchline until Tevez drew his side level just before the half-hour after Ireland forced his way down the right and his cross eventually fell to the feet of the Argentine, whose fierce shot was cruelly deflected past the helpless Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Gareth Barry then squandered a glorious chance to put the visitors in front as Bellamy's corner picked out the midfielder, who was unmarked at the back post, but he lashed his volley wide of the far post from close range.
Barry would rue his profligacy as Cahill restored Bolton's lead with a stunning effort in the 43rd minute. The defender took the ball down on the edge of the City box and proceeded to swivel and unleash a stunning shot which flew unerringly into the top corner of Shay Given's net.
The hosts again looked jittery as they sought to protect their lead going into the break, and in stoppage time Bellamy picked out the marauding Richards with an incisive through ball, and the defender produced a clinical finish to restore parity for a second time.
Both sides demonstrated a distinct lack of conviction at the back as the play lurched from end to the other, and it seemed only a matter of time until one of the defences were breached once more, and so it proved.
More shoddy defending from City enabled Taylor's cross from the left to squirm its way through to Klasnic in the 53rd minute, who simply stabbed the ball home from close range after he evaded the slack marking of Joleon Lescott in the box to hand Bolton the lead for the third time.
Bolton should have made it four as they broke at pace following a poor corner from City and, after Lee beat Lescott and Sylvinho, he unselfishly squared the ball to Fabrice Muamba, who sliced his shot horribly wide with just Given to beat to hand the visitors a further reprieve.
City piled forward in their droves as they looked to equalise once more, but their task was made all the harder as referee Mark Clattenburg inexplicably showed Bellamy a second yellow card after the Welshman was adjudged to have dived under the challenge of Paul Robinson. To say it was a debatable decision would be an understatement.
Lescott then contrived to inexplicably head over the bar from inside the Bolton six-yard box as he stole in to meet Tevez's cross from the left.
But Tevez seized the initiative and fired a ferocious low shot into the far corner of Jaaskelainen's net in the 77th minute to draw City level for a third time and salvage his side a point in fine fashion.
Bolton squandered the opportunity to claim the scalp of City after seeing their advantage erased three times, but Hughes will be happy to come away with a point after his side showed character with a numerical disadvantage.
Dan Quarrell / Eurosport
Source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/12122009/58/premier-league-city-scramble-draw-bolton.html
Team Line-up:
Bolton: Jaaskelainen; Robinson, Cahill, Knight, Steinsson, Muamba (Davies 80), Taylor, Cohen, Lee, Davies, Klasnic (Elmander 72).
Man City: Given; Richards, Sylvinho, Lescott, Toure, Kompany (Robinho 72), Wright-Phillips (Ireland 20), Barry, Adebayor (Santa Cruz 83), Tevez, Bellamy.
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