Match ends, Nottingham Forest 3, Bolton Wanderers 0.
Nottm ForestNottingham Forest3BoltonBolton Wanderers0
Nottingham Forest halted a run of four consecutive draws with an easy win that heaped more misery on 10-man Bolton.
Visiting keeper Ben Amos was sent off early on for fouling Jamie Ward in the box and Nelson Oliveira converted the penalty to set the hosts on their way.
Teenager Oliver Burke's header from Jamie Ward's right-wing cross doubled the Reds' first-half advantage.
Ward got his reward late on after going close on several occasions with a left-foot shot from inside the box.
The early red card left Bolton with a near-impossible task as they spent most of the game defending and registered just one shot on target during the 90 minutes, when Gary Madine's effort was easily saved by Dorus de Vries.
Neil Lennon's Trotters were indebted to substitute keeper Paul Rachubka, who pulled off some fine saves, including twice denying the busy Ward.
Former Derby and Chesterfield man Ward also struck the crossbar from 30 yards out with a spectacular drive late in the first half, and then shot just wide shortly after the break following a neat exchange of passes with Ben Osborn.
Bolton, the Championship's bottom club and heavily in debt that has seen them the subject of a winding-up petition, have now won just once in their last 22 games - a 1-0 home win over Blackburn on 28 December.
For Forest it was a 10th Championship game without a defeat, although this was only their fourth victory during that run.
Nottingham Forest manager Dougie Freedman:
"I am very happy because it was a fantastic performance. We moved the ball with great intensity and scored goals.
"This was a difficult match because we were up against a wounded animal. But we got the job done.
"We made a perfect start. We wanted to make sure they knew they were in a game.
"We had great movement, great play from our wide players and some great passing, all of which led to the penalty."
Bolton Wanderers boss Neil Lennon:
"We have to keep going, we have to keep believing. We have a seven-point gap to close and that is not insurmountable - but we have to start winning games.
"This is why we are bottom of the league, because we cannot string two performances together.
"We felt we could get something out of this game, but we gave ourselves a mountain to climb. Obviously we lost the keeper to a red card, so we were quickly down to 10 men.
"We never gave ourselves a chance; we never had any momentum."
Line-ups
Nottm Forest
Formation 4-4-2
- 1de Vries
- 2Lichaj
- 5Mills
- 4Mancienne
- 3Jokic
- 35BurkeSubstituted forMendes da Graçaat 90+1'minutes
- 22Gardner
- 32TescheSubstituted forCohenat 86'minutes
- 38Osborn
- 19Ward
- 17OliveiraSubstituted forWalkerat 70'minutes
Substitutes
- 6Wilson
- 8Cohen
- 15Mendes da Graça
- 25Hobbs
- 26Evtimov
- 29O'Grady
- 34Walker
Bolton
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 1AmosBooked at 11mins
- 45Holding
- 4Dervite
- 31WheaterSubstituted forDannsat 63'minutes
- 3MoxeyBooked at 58mins
- 6VelaSubstituted forRachubkaat 12'minutes
- 7Feeney
- 17Trotter
- 21Pratley
- 22WellingtonSubstituted forWooleryat 88'minutes
- 14Madine
Substitutes
- 8Spearing
- 13Rachubka
- 16Davies
- 18Danns
- 20Casado
- 23Dobbie
- 30Woolery
- Referee:
- Eddie Ilderton
- Attendance:
- 18,465
Match Stats
Home TeamNottm ForestAway TeamBolton
- Possession
- Home62%
- Away38%
- Shots
- Home22
- Away3
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away1
- Corners
- Home5
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home8
- Away10
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Nottingham Forest 3, Bolton Wanderers 0.
Post update
Hand ball by Tyler Walker (Nottingham Forest).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Ryan Mendes (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Tyler Walker.
Substitution
Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Ryan Mendes replaces Oliver Burke.
Post update
Foul by Ben Osborn (Nottingham Forest).
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Neil Danns (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Oliver Burke (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Liam Trotter (Bolton Wanderers).
Substitution
Substitution, Bolton Wanderers. Kaiyne Woolery replaces Wellington.
Substitution
Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Chris Cohen replaces Robert Tesche.
Post update
Foul by Oliver Burke (Nottingham Forest).
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Liam Trotter (Bolton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Attempt saved. Gary Madine (Bolton Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Wellington.
Goal!
Goal! Nottingham Forest 3, Bolton Wanderers 0. Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from the left side of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Ben Osborn.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Gary Gardner (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Oliver Burke.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Gary Gardner (Nottingham Forest) header from the centre of the box is blocked.
Post update
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Paul Rachubka.
Post update
Attempt saved. Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Robert Tesche.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Jamie Ward (Nottingham Forest) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Oliver Burke with a headed pass.
