Wolves 2-3 Bolton: Trotters come from behind to earn priceless win in relegation battle as hosts stay bottom

Bolton Wanderers produced a stunning smash-and-grab to beat relegation threatened rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 at Molineux.

The hosts dominated for large periods but were punished for their profligacy in front of goal in the first half as Bolton struck three times in 21 second-half minutes to stun the home crowd.

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The win will give Bolton breathing space at the bottom of the Premier League but leaves Wolves deeper in the mire.

The home side took the lead through a fine placed finish from Michael Kightly before goals from Martin Petrov, Marcos Alonso and Kevin Davies put the Bolton faithful into dreamland.

Matt Jarvis’ late strike, however, was not enough to earn Wolves the point they deserved.

Owen Coyle’s men, on the other hand, defeated another relegation rival in Blackburn last weekend and the picture circulated around this week of Fabrice Muamba sitting up and smiling in his hospital bed will have warmed the hearts of the whole football community.

Bolton were looking to do something they hadn’t done all season – win three games in a row – and create some breathing space at the bottom of the table.

Ivan Klasnic returned to the starting lineup to lead the line alongside David Ngog who seemed to relish having a partner to run off. The only other change saw Marcos Alonso replace Gretar Steinsson who didn’t make the trip for the Trotters.

Wolves made a brilliant start to the game and could have gone ahead in the opening moments when Michael Kightly’s low cross went towards Sylvan Ebanks Blake waiting in the area but Tim Ream got across brilliantly to stop block the cross in the six-yard box.

Ebanks-Blake then went close seconds later as a corner was cleared to the striker on the penalty spot and after juggling the ball a couple of times his shot was blocked by Adam Bogdan.

Despite dominating the first half Wolves couldn’t find a way through the sturdy Bolton defence and the home fans seemed as anxious as anyone that they hadn’t scored as they were quick to criticise the men in old gold if a pass went awry.

The anxiety of the Wolves players was plain for all to see as Wayne Hennessey and Roger Johnson got involved in a spat, which led to the pair having to be separated on the edge of their own box.

At the other end Wolves continued to dominate and Steven Fletcher was unlucky not to have put the home team in front twice as first Bogdan made a brilliant save to deny him and then minutes later had a header cleared off the line by Ryo Miyaichi.

Just before half-time Fletcher went close once again but this time he saw his header strike the bar and go over.

There was always the danger that Bolton could score against the run of the play and they should have done just after the break when David Wheater put Ryo Miyaichi’s fine cross wide when free in the area.

The game’s opening goal duly came for the home side in the 53rd minute as Kightly expertly placed the ball into the bottom corner after easily seeing off the challenge of Marcos Alonso.

Bolton undeservedly got themselves back in the game through a penalty scored by Petrov but that wasn’t the main talking point of the incident. Mark Davies won the spot-kick with a terrible dive at the feet of Roger Johnson.

The referee fell for it hook, line and sinker but there was no contact to bring him to ground.

The goal changed the face of the game as Bolton begun to dominate proceedings and they scored the second priceless goal through a close-range volley from Alonso.

Kevin Davies then completed the comeback with a side-footed finish after being allowed free reign inside the box by the Wolves defenders.

There was still time for Wolves to grab a second goal as a hopeful long ball bounced off Fletcher’s head and into the grateful feet of Jarvis who stroked home to give his side hope.

However, despite their best efforts and a late consolation, Wolves weren't able to get a deserved point against their relegation rivals and they now sit six points behind Wigan at the bottom of the table with games fast running out.