Gary Speed's first Premiership goal for Bolton Wanderers salvaged a point for the his side at Villa Park on Saturday and David O'Leary was quick to highlight how costly the slip could prove. "We've taken three points from our last three home games instead of the nine we should have got,” he moaned. "Imagine the difference those eight points would have made to our hopes of qualifying for Europe.”
Bolton, of course, have bigger fish to fry with a possible UEFA Champions League spot in the offing but with the exception of an early surge, they never really looked like pushing their claims here. After Kevin Davies, El-Hadji Diouf and Stelios Giannakopoulos all failed with close-range headers, team-mate Fernando Hierro was more successful, albeit past his own goalkeeper, Jussi Jaaskelainen as Villa took a fortuitous lead.
The Icelandic goalkeeper was far more successful against the men wearing claret and blue, however, as he kept Bolton in the game before half time, denying Darius Vassell and Juan Pablo Angel as Steven Davis and Thomas Hitzlsperger dominated the midfield. Jlloyd Samuel also went close just before the interval but was again denied by Jaaskelainen.
The Bolton No1 picked up where he left off after the interval, saving well from Davis, who was then similarly impotent as Gary Speed climbed above him to head in Diouf’s cross at the other end on 54 minutes. Half-time substitute and part-time Penguin double, Ivan Campo had by now wrested midfield control but it was Villa who went closest to winning the match through a Angel header. But Jaaskelain tipped the effort wide of his right-hand post.
The result left Villa two points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur, and next weekend’s match at White Hart Lane has now become a must-win encounter.