Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Bolton Wanderers

Billed by some as the "Axe Factor", this battle between the Premier League's two most under-fire managers ended in a result that may well be the final nail in Steve Kean's coffin, as Blackburn were defeated 2-1 by Owen Coyle's Bolton. Bolton's utter domination of the first-half and goals from Mark Davies and Nigel Reo-Coker were enough to see off a spirited second-half display from Rovers who grabbed one back through Yakubu. It was Bolton who looked the more up for the game from the off and landed the first blow after just five minutes when Davies struck the ball low past Paul Robinson after some woeful Rovers defending. The Bolton fans were in high voice before the goal, drowning out the home fans with ease, and met Davies' strike with even more raucous chanting. If the Blackburn fans were heard at all it was their chants of "Kean out!" that rang around Ewood Park, a chorus that continued throughout the match Tensions were running high and Blackburn lost a little of their discipline after going a goal down with Mauro Formica and Jason Lowe picking up bookings. The game descended into a rather scrappy midfield battle after the goal with Bolton seeing much more of the ball without ever really creating anything more than half chances. Then, on the half hour, Reo-Coker broke down the centre, played the ball out wide to Martin Petrov before continuing his run into the box where he was found by the Bulgarian winger. As Morten Gamst-Pedersen tried to challenge him Reo-Coker's tackle/shot ricocheted into the Blackburn goal. Blackburn's first decent chance came after 34 minutes and fell to Simon Vukcevic but he snatched at his shot and sliced wide of the goal without troubling Jussi Jaaskelainen. The 2-0 half-time scoreline was no more than Bolton deserved from a 45 minutes that they dominated. Blackburn's attacking players were virtually entirely subdued and their make-shift defence looked as fragile as one would expect. Half Time Blackburn almost had the perfect start to the second-half though as Stephen Nzonzi hit a first time shot from the edge of the Bolton box that fizzed just over the bar. But the lack of clear cut chances continued from then on with Blackburn managing little more than goal-mouth scrambles, one of which almost resulted in a Bolton goal. After bouncing around the Bolton six-yard box the ball was cleared and the away side broke quickly, outnumbering Blackburn's defence, but when a deep Davies cross found Petrov at the back post his shot was blocked. This was the story for much of the second-half, with Blackburn's desperate pressure on Bolton's area leaving them vulnerable on the counter-attack. Then Rovers' ascendency finally told as Yakubu lifted the ball over Jaaskalainen following a perfectly waited through ball from Junior Hoilett. The goal sparked the home side into life and there were quick fire chances for substitute David Goodwillie and David Dunn, although neither troubled the goalkeeper. The game became stretched after Blackburn's goal with the home side pouring forward in search of an equaliser but Bolton looked dangerous on the break. There was a penalty shout for Rovers after a dubious challenge from Paul Robinson but the defender may just have won the ball. This was shortly followed by a powerful shot from Yakubu who became a much more prominent figure after his goal but his shot was deflected into the side-netting Then when Bolton broke from yet another Blackburn assault, and again had men over on Blackburn's defence, Tuncay Sanli was unable to get on the end of Petrov's low pass across goal. After a poor clearance from Jaaskelainen, the lively Hoilett picked up the ball and ran towards goal only to see his shot sail over the bar. There was a late stoppage time effort from Blackburn's best player on the night, Hoilett, who had Jaaskelainen scrambling with a bending shot that went just wide of the goal. Then Bolton could and should have killed the game off as Darren Pratley put the ball wide when one-on-one with Robinson. Deep into injury time Chris Samba had the chance to make himself the hero but his header fell agonisingly wide of Jaaskelainen's post. But it was not to be for Blackburn yet again and Kean's men find themselves bottom of the table at Christmas, an ominous sign for any club. Coyle will be proud of his players who probably just edged the game based on their first-half performance and some of the pressure on him will be lifted. As for Kean, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how he can keep his job and unfortunately one can't help but feel the Blackburn owners should put the poor man out of his misery. Referee: Martin Atkinson Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Ronbinson, Lowe, Samba, Hanley, Pedersen, Vukcevic (Rochina, 65) Dunn, Nzonzi, Hoilett, Formica (Goodwillie, 65), Yakubu. Bolton Wanderers (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Alonso (Robinson, 57), M Davies, Muamba, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Klasnic (Pratley, 81), Ngog (Tuncay, 72).