bolton joy as diouf downs atlético published: friday 15 february 2008, 0.59cet bolton wanderers fc 1-0 club atlético de madrid matt taylor caught the eye but it was el hadji diouf who eventually got the winner in north-west england.
el hadji diouf showed deadly poise, scoring with 16 minutes left to give bolton wanderers fc an impressive 1-0 victory against a club atlético de madrid side that finished the game with ten men.
key moments atlético had coasted through the uefa cup group stage and many expected them to do the same in the last 32, but bolton had other ideas with matthew taylor imperious on his european debut. the january signing fashioned a string of first-half opportunities, and while the spanish visitors gradually gained a foothold, they lost their shape after the dismissal of agüero, apparently for spitting at an opponent. a minute later diouf scored, firing in after atlético had failed to deal with a low cross following good work from stelios giannakopoulos and taylor.
bolton pressure the result leaves los colchoneros with it all to do next thursday when the teams reconvene at the vicente calderón stadium, and bolton have cause for confidence after a display belying their lowly premier league status. taylor was at the heart of much of the hosts' best work, testing christian abbiati twice in the opening four minutes. the goalkeeper saved his first-minute header with relative ease but was grateful to see taylor's next attempt come back off a post after only managing to parry it. the midfielder was not done, however, chipping over before stinging abbiati's fingers with a rasping drive.
visitors rally atlético had only an antonio lópez header to show for their efforts, which goalkeeper jussi jääskeläinen did brilliantly to tip over, before taylor continued his assault after half-time, making abbiati save again. the primera división team came into their own approaching the hour, however, with diego forlán threatening to break the deadlock following some nifty footwork, though he shot into the side-netting. maxi rodríguez squandered another chance and when agüero saw red following a challenge by the omnipresent taylor, diouf pounced to earn a deserved triumph.
