Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ricketts penalty punishes Villa

Bolton Wanderers 1 Aston Villa

Dan Murphy
Monday 02 September 2002 00:00 BST
Comments

This time last season newly promoted Bolton Wanderers had won their opening three games and were sitting proudly atop the Premiership. Reality may have caught up with them since but a deserved victory over Aston Villa, courtesy of Michael Ricketts' second-half penalty, at least gave them their first points of the season.

"It's vital for us to keep clean sheets so that we don't have to score too many goals," said the Bolton manager Sam Allardyce. "If we can keep 10 clean sheets this season then I think we'll stay up. But we needed a win after losing to Charlton the way we did last week."

Allardyce was able to recall Kevin Nolan and Gudni Bergsson but not Jay-Jay Okocha, still out with a knee injury. Of Graham Taylor's recent acquisitions, only Mark Kinsella began.

With Villa deploying three strikers and Youri Djorkaeff caring little for tackling, there was plenty of space in midfield.

Darius Vassell spurned the game's first opening, steering his volley into the side netting, before Paul Warhust's measured chip nearly embarrassed Peter Enckelman and Djorkaeff looped a header just wide with the Finnish goalkeeper beaten.

Villa's strike force should offer something for everyone but they were curiously subdued yesterday. Vassell did bring a smart stop from Jussi Jaaskelainen, the other Finnish keeper on view, but it was to be his last significant contribution. He limped off with a hamstring injury that has ruled him out of England's squad for Saturday's friendly against Portugal at Villa Park.

Bolton had the ball in the net within 30 seconds of the re-start. Henrik Pedersen, who enjoyed an eventful second half, bundled his way through the Villa defence and past Enckelman without ever having the ball fully under control but his effort was disallowed for handball. That marked the beginning of a frantic period of play as Djorkaeff and Peter Crouch had shots blocked, then Pedersen prodded wide with the goal at his mercy.

Bolton's winner arrived minutes later when Pedersen pushed the ball past Enckelman before making minimal contact with the goalkeeper's arm. The referee Steve Dunn pointed to the spot and Ricketts, a Birmingham City fan as a child, gleefully dispatched the penalty.

Ricketts grew in belief as the game went on and might have scored again had he not side-footed over when well placed.

Marcus Allback replaced the anonymous Crouch and the Swedish striker nearly scored within a minute but his instinctive shot went just wide. Villa then had a goal disallowed when Juan Pablo Angel was harshly ruled offside. "There are some good referees in this country but not so many good linesmen," said Taylor. "I thought he was level with the last defender."

Villa struggled for creativity throughout, as a record of a single goal in four games this season suggests, but they almost rescued a point in the dying moments when Jaaskelainen reacted superbly to palm Barry's shot away.

"I was disappointed with our lack of ambition," said Taylor. "It was the worst we've played this season." With the transfer deadline been and gone, Taylor may live to regret allowing Paul Merson to join Portsmouth.

Goal: Ricketts pen (56) 1-0.

Bolton Wanderers: (4-3-1-2) Jaaskelainen 7; N'Gotty 6, Bergsson 6, Whitlow 5, Charlton 4 (Gardner, 31, 5); Frandsen 5, Nolan 6, Warhurst 6 (Barness 5, 39); Djorkaeff 7; Pedersen 7, Ricketts 8. Substitutes not used: Poole (gk), Mendy, Dean Holdsworth.

Aston Villa: (4-3-3): Enckelman 5; Delaney 6, Mellberg 6, Staunton 5, Wright 5 (Samuel 65, 4); Hendrie 5, Kinsella 5, Barry 6; Angel 4, Crouch 4 (Allback 65, 6), Vassell 5 (De la Cruz 45, 3). Substitutes not used: Postma (gk), Hitzlsperger.

Referee: S Dunn (Bristol) 6.

Man of the match: Ricketts.

Attendance: 22,500.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in