Blues 2 Bolton 0

Last updated : 18 April 2004 By Brian Cartlidge

Birmingham
Forssell 24, Hughes 69
Match Summary
Bolton



Mikael Forssell grabbed his 14th goal of the season to spearhead Blues' latest win which was sealed by Bryan Hughes' 67th minute goal.

Blues were well worth their latest success although it was not as impressive as their midweek win over Middlesbrough.

Bolton, defeated in the Carling Cup final by Boro last weekend were often off the pace and at no time appeared capable of preventing Blues completing the double.

Robbie Savage was not as positive as against the North-East club and this was often reflected in Blues' indifferent play in the early stages but he later made amends despite collecting his ninth booking of the season.

Bolton, however, posed little trouble to the Blues defence. They lacked penetration and skipper Okocha was way below form as he struggled to make an impact.

It was only the form of Wanderers goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, who twice made good saves to keep out efforts from Morrison and Bryan Hughes, which enabled Bolton to stay in contention.

As a result Blues were generally the more attack-minded side with Morrison a persistent danger to the Bolton defence in which Bruno N'Gotty was a solid defender.

It was hardly a surprise that Morrison's determination eventually broke the stalemate when he set up the opening goal.

A throughball from Savage found Morrison near the by-line. He was challenged by Simon Charlton but was successful in pushing a bouncing pass into the middle where it was met by Forssell.

The Blues striker knocked the ball over the head of Ivan Campo and then jabbed his shot into the ground. This produced a high bouncing ball which completely deceived Jaaskelainen despite his desperate bid to make a save.

Savage began to make a bigger impact for Birmingham and this also put Bolton out of their stride as the Midlanders dominated long spells.

Their superiority paid off again in the 67th minute when Johnson produced a high cross from the right which was headed home at the far post by Hughes.

The best save of the game came in the 77th minute following a right-wing corner from Per Frandsen. The ball found its way to Charlton who immediately whipped in a left-footed shot which was brilliantly saved by Maik Taylor.

Blues: Maik Taylor, Tebily, Cunningham, Martin Taylor, Upson, Johnson (Kenna 88), Savage, Clemence (Cisse 76), Hughes, Forssell (John 86), Morrison. Subs not used: Bennett, Purse.
Booked: Savage.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Hunt, Charlton, N'Gotty, Barness, Nolan, Frandsen (Giannakopoulos 79), Okocha (Ba 63), Campo, Djorkaeff (Pedersen 48), Davies. Subs not used: Poole, Howey.
Booked: Hunt.

Attendance: 28,003.

Referee: A D'Urso (Essex).