Coventry confounded by Curcic's flair

BOB HOUSTON

Coventry 0 Bolton Wanderers 2

Necessity being the mother of invention has had a lot to do with Bolton Wanderers' recent stirrings in their coffin at the foot of the table and now means that the bottom, as well as the top, of the Premiership will have us nail-biting until the last kick.

Coventry's may not be the most prestigious of scalps, but this was Bolton's third consecutive away win. Coventry can also feel the heat of a First Division drop and it showed in their frenzy when they struggled to recover from Alan Stubbs' two second-half goals.

Gudni Bergsson and Mixu Paatelainen were vital contributors on the road to victory. Paatelainen was able to back up full-back Jimmy Phillips often enough to stifle the supply from John Salako. Only once did Dion Dublin slyly find space to connect with a Salako cross but could not beat Keith Branagan.

Coventry were outnumbered and outmanoeuvred in midfield. They were also confused by Sasa Curcic. The Serb has what it takes to do for Bolton what Georgi Kinkladze is doing for Manchester City. Like the Georgian, his touch and vision are on a different plane from those around him. That dash of the exotic may be the decisive factor in determining who continues to play with the big boys next season.

Goals: Stubbs (66) 0-1; Stubbs (70) 0-2.

Coventry City (4-4-2): Ogrizovic; Borrows, Burrows, Shaw, Daish; Williams, Ndlovu (Strachan, 65), Dublin, Whelan; Salako, Jess. Substitutes not used: Telfer, Filan (gk).

Bolton Wanderers (3-5-2): Branagan; Green, Phillips, Coleman; Fairclough, Curcic, Sellars, Bergsson, Stubbs; Blake (De Freitas, 80), Paatelainen. Substitutes not used: McGinlay, Davison (gk).

Referee: K Burge (Tonypandy).

Bookings: Coventry City: Burrows, Salako. Bolton Wanderers: Green.

Man of the match: Curcic. Attendance: 17,226.