Ugly Bolton hold on
Blackburn have received plenty of negative publicity about their alleged physical approach since Mark Hughes became manager, but they were on the receiving end in a fierce north-west derby. There are plenty of combustible characters in Blackburn's side, most notably Robbie Savage, accused of wanting to break people's legs in the morning papers by Bolton's Stelios Giannakopoulos, but they were largely blameless in this ill-tempered affair.
Bolton did little to shed the 'ugly' moniker they have been burdened with by the BBC's Alan Green following a series of challenges that really should have been shown after the 9pm watershed in this live televised game. The identity of the worst culprit was a surprise, however. Hidetoshi Nakata, with a reputation as Asia's most skilful player, was sent off after only 33 minutes following three fouls. He had escaped punishment for the first one on Steven Reid, got cautioned for the second on Savage in the 13th minute and was finally dismissed 20 minutes later when he was again late on David Bentley.
Sam Allardyce was, predictably, furious with the referee Mike Riley, his face growing redder and his gum being chewed ever more aggressively the longer the half went on. Even Allardyce, though, would surely have found it hard to justify the cynical body check by Bruno N'Gotty on Reid in the 70th minute, when the Blackburn midfielder was on a powerful forward run.
Moments later, the aggression even spilled briefly off the pitch when Blackburn and Bolton fans became involved in a running battle in front of the CIS stand before it was quelled by dozens of police.
Elsewhere, Blackburn found it harder to press home their numerical advantage. The closest they came was three minutes after half time when Stuart Gray whipped in a lovely cross that Brett Emerton met with a thunderous header that hit the underside of the bar.
Man of the Match STEVEN REID Blackburn's midfielder had upset Bolton in a previous encounter, judging by the way he appeared to be singled out for robust treatment. But always looked the player who could make something happen for Blackburn.