Tevez sees 10-man City to Bolton win

Carlos Tevez scored his tenth goal of the season as Manchester City, ending the game a man down, beat Bolton 1-0 at Eastlands here on Saturday.

An entertaining game ended in controversy with City playing the final dozen minutes without Aleksandar Kolarov, the Serbian defender, who earned two yellow cards in four minutes, the second for a scything tackle on Sam Ricketts.

Furious City manager Roberto Mancini stormed into the Bolton technical area on the touchline and became embroiled in a heated dispute with opposite number Owen Coyle as tempers frayed.

City could, and probably should, have had the three points wrapped up inside the opening five minutes after an exhilarating start to the match saw them end an unwanted run of four hours and 49 minutes without a goal at home in the Premier League.

Tevez took aim at Jussi Jaaskelainen’s goal after 90 seconds, with Bolton’s goalkeeper stooping competently to collect the shot.

But the Finn had no chance in the third minute when Yaya Toure strode forward into Bolton territory before slipping through the perfect pass for Tevez.

Gary Cahill should have cut the ball out but mistimed his interception, allowing Tevez to advance and make no mistake with a slide-rule finish into the bottom-left corner of the Bolton net.

Mario Balotelli, the young Italian looking increasingly at home in English football, nearly doubled the lead moments later after his intricate footwork opening up space in the opposition area, only to see his shot blocked.

Then a free-flowing City move ended with David Silva’s shot hitting Gary Cahill and the home side failing with what looked like a good appeal for handball and a penalty.

Having come through a spirited City opening without conceding again, Bolton finally created chances at the other end, starting with a 20-yard free-kick from former City favourite Martin Petrov.

But the first period ended with City back in control, with Yaya Toure feeding Silva on the right and the Spaniard squaring for Tevez, whose low strike was well saved by Jaaskelainen.

The game could have been over in the opening seconds of the second half when Jaaskelainen dropped Gareth Barry’s cross; fortunately for the visitors, Ricketts hacked clear with Tevez poised.

And there was a reminder that Bolton might have some attacking fight left when Lee Chung-Yong’s cross picked out Kevin Davies on the edge of the area and the striker’s rising shot just cleared the City bar.

Silva should have killed off any remaining Bolton fight in the 49th minute when Tevez’s pass picked him out just a dozen yards from goal but the City man hit his shot straight at Jaaskelainen.

And City might have scored four times in six minutes around the hour mark.

Pablo Zabaleta, on the overlap, was denied by Jaaskelainen when he gathered a Yaya Toure pass and shot at goal, while Balotelli hit the post after Tevez had been tackled by Cahill.

Balotelli then forced the keeper into an excellent save at the foot of his post after more fantastic play in the area and Silva rattled a powerful shot against the Bolton crossbar.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart almost gifted Bolton what would have been an unlikely equaliser when he dropped Cahill’s long free-kick and Vincent Kompany was required to clear off the line.