Ten-man Stoke end 36-year wait for win at Bolton as Cissé and Wilmot sink Wanderers
Lamine Cissé and Ben Wilmot fired 10-man Stoke City to a first win at Bolton since October 1990 as the Potters beat Wanderers 2-1 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Saturday, stretching their unbeaten Sky Bet Championship run to six games.
Mark Robins' in-form side played for 70 minutes without defender Maksym Talovierov after his 20th-minute dismissal, yet shrugged off the disadvantage to claim a fifth win in six matches and climb to fourth in the Championship table. Bolton — who kicked off bidding for three successive league wins for the first time in 12 years after September victories over Cardiff and a 4-3 thriller at Norwich — dropped to 17th.
The triumph was Stoke's first in Bolton for 36 years, the previous one coming in October 1990 when 1966 World Cup hero Alan Ball was in the home dugout, and ended a 10-game winless run at the Trotters' ground.
Dong denied, Talovierov dismissed
Bolton should have been in front after nine minutes when Ethan Erhahon's defence-splitting pass sent Kyliane Dong racing clear, but the Augsburg loanee — still without a Championship goal this season despite one assist in seven appearances, according to FotMob's statistics — was thwarted by Viktor Johansson's outstretched left leg. Stoke responded four minutes later when Wilmot fired into the side netting.
The visitors' bid to break their Bolton hoodoo then appeared to plunge when referee Thomas Kirk showed Talovierov a straight red card, adjudging the Ukrainian defender's last-ditch tackle on Dong — delivered fractionally outside the penalty area — to have denied a goalscoring opportunity.
Wales international Josh Sheehan dragged the resulting free-kick narrowly wide and Gaizka Larrazabal also went close, but Wanderers spurned the game's clearest opening after 31 minutes: Ruben Rodrigues delivered a superb right-wing cross, only for striker Sam Dalby to head it down and over the bar from five yards.
Cissé breaks the resistance against the run of play
Stoke took the lead against the run of play in first-half stoppage time. Ethan Galbraith supplied the assist and Cissé stayed onside before curling a low right-foot shot beyond goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu for his first goal of the campaign.
The same player almost doubled the advantage eight minutes after the restart, cutting inside and driving an effort against Bazunu's left upright — with the goalkeeper, making his first appearance since sitting out the Republic of Ireland's Nations League fixtures with Israel, recovering to save substitute Luca Bambino's follow-up.
Wilmot's powerful header seals it
The 10 men deservedly doubled their lead just after the hour when Jack McGlynn whipped in a free-kick from the Bolton left and Wilmot headed home powerfully in front of 4,600 travelling City supporters. It could have been three two minutes later, but Bazunu saved Cissé's latest attempt as Stoke threatened to run away with the contest.
Bair's late strike comes too late for Trotters
Canadian substitute Thelonius Bair gave Bolton flickering hope of a comeback when he scored his first goal for the club in the second minute of stoppage time, and Dalby headed straight at Johansson in the closing moments, but Stoke held on for a deserved three points. Post-match reaction from Bolton manager Steven Schumacher and Robins was not yet available at the time of writing.
What the result means
Stoke's fifth win in six games lifted them up to fourth in the Championship, with their unbeaten streak now standing at six matches. Bolton, who had strung together back-to-back September wins — a 1-0 victory over Cardiff in which Bazunu made 10 saves in a display Schumacher described as "outstanding", reported by The Guardian, followed by a stunning 4-3 comeback at Norwich on 20 September — drop to 17th, with their bid for a third straight league win for the first time in 12 years ending at the first hurdle.