Charlton 2 Bolton 0

Bolton will be kicking themselves all the way back to, erm, Bolton for not winning this game comfortably, never mind losing it 2-0. Or, to be more accurate, Big Sam will be kicking them all the way back. Even before Hreidarsson was sent off, the visitors were in complete control. Stelios missed two great chances, either side of Bent failing to beat just a defender on the line from 10 yards. Into the second half and Bolton finally seemed to have made the breakthrough when Diouf was felled by the ponderous Faye, who would surely have been sent off had Hreidarsson not gone before him. However, Diouf's penalty was well saved by Carson. Out of nothing, Reid suddenly played Bent in and Ben Haim pulled him back. Another pen, and this time Bent made no mistake.

Referee Dean then evened the score by sending Kevin Davies off for another apparent elbow, much to the home fans' delight, and Bent latched on to a Hasselbaink flick-on from a huge punt to seal the match. Despite the result, Bolton looked comfortably the better side, with Campo imperious in midfield against Charlton's rag-tag scufflers Faye and Hughes. How the latter in particular holds down a Premiership place I'll never know. I might devote a separate post to Darren Bent, let's just say for now that if he's a one trick player, it worked today, but I wouldn't put much on him repeating last year's goal tally. Nor would I invest much faith, or more importantly money, in Charlton having a good season. It could be a long one for them and they'll do well to count themselves lucky today and try to improve the squad before the window expires. Bolton I will reserve judgement on until I see exactly how they're going to fit Anelka into their system - I'm scratching my head. Maybe they'll change it to suit him, it will be interesting to see what they do. Big Sam's no mug, and I'm sure he's got something specific in mind.

Update : It turns out that Kevin Davies suffered a fractured cheekbone in the incident where Hermann Hreidarsson was sent off. Whether it was deliberate or not (if asked to call it, I would have said it was, but what do I know) I hope a few of the many Charlton fans who booed Davies after the incident will read that and have a look at themselves.