Howard 6- Didn't have much to do. One key save from Davies
Neville 7- He best match in a while. Got forward well. Nice stepovers!
Jagielka 5- Still looking very rusty and error-prone.
Distin 6- Reasonable performance.
Baines 8- If he had a right foot, he would have bagged a brace today.
Anichebe 5- Should have scored before getting injured.
Heitinga 6- Played it simple.
Arteta 7- Flashes of what he's capable of.
Cahill 5- Little impact. Seemed frustrated with himself.
Pienaar 7- Lively and creative. Took his goal coolly.
Yakubu 7- His best game since his return. Much more mobile.
Bily 5- Very quiet half.
Osman 6- Excellent build up play for Pienaar's goal.
Saha 5- Little involvement.
We weren't too bad today. Bolton sat deep but we always looked like we had it within us to nick a goal, even if we weren't creating too many opportunities. We were sloppy defensively though and it was something of a surprise to escape with a clean sheet. Jags seems to be taking longer than Arteta to pick up the pace after his injury layoff and was guilty of a number of needless mistakes. The fact that Distin looked like the reliable half of the partnership tells it's own story.
Pienaar and Arteta pulled the strings in midfield, whilst the Yak was in unusually athletic mood infront of them, making darts in behind the Bolton fullbacks. Both Baines and Neville were excellent in offering themselves as an option on the overlap. Heitinga looks like he wants to break forward and score his first goal for the club, rather than sitting as a shield infront of the back four. The biggest criticism of the day is that we didn't close down as well as Bolton. We gave them too much space on the edge of our box.
Overall, it was a day for plusses though. We just need to tighten up at the back ahead of the run in. It was good to see Villa and Brum dropping points.
