Bolton fail to convert as Fulham are left adrift

Bolton showed plenty of flourish but could not find the finish to give them a victory which would have dragged Fulham deep into the dogfight at the foot of the Premiership.

Despite some handsome approach work from the likes of Youri Djorkaeff and Jay Jay Okocha, the Wanderers could not break down a Fulham side with limited ambitions and, but for an offside decision, and two bad misses from Steed Malbranque in the second-half, they could even have lost a match they dominated.

They had Djorkaeff back after a three-match absence with a rib injury, but no Michael Ricketts at the end of a week when their leading goal-scorer attracted bids from Spurs and Middlesbrough. His absence, attributed to a groin injury, meant a first Premiership start for Bolton's summer signing, Delroy Facey.

Fulham's slide to the fringe of the relegation struggle has raised doubts over whether Jean Tigana will be asked to continue as manager when negotiations begin. For this trip, he had Lewis Boa Morte back on the bench but a woeful away record yielding only two wins in the last 20 attempts.

Facey made a good early impression with some enthusiastic touches, but it was his partner, Henrik Pedersen, who should have put Bolton ahead after six minutes when Ricardo Gardner nodded a half-cleared ball back into the danger area only for the Dane to hook it over the bar. It was one of a number of interesting balls into the box for which Bolton could not find the finishing touch.

Most promising of all was Jay Jay Okocha's wonderful through ball for Facey, denied only by an equally good tackle from Alain Goma.

Fulham looked far from secure at the back and could muster little going forward, only Ivan Campo's slip and Louis Saha's blocked shot registering them as an attacking force.

Straight after that, Spacey was away for Bolton and blasted over when there were men better placed in the middle. Just before the half-hour, Okocha had a shot from a free-kick saved by Maik Taylor as the goal Bolton deserved refused to come.

Gardner got away with a questionable challenge on Martin Djetou, but the Fulham captain, Steve Finnan, was booked for a revenge mission soon after, shortly followed by Facundo Sava for a clumsy effort on Campo. Three minutes into the second half Bolton had their first real scare, Saha nodding down Bjarne Goldbaek's cross for Sava to slide home, but the offside flag was already raised.

It was a timely reminder that Bolton needed to turn their superiority into goals, but Campo could not force in Gardner's cross-shot at the far post and their frustration went on.

They could have been behind when Malbranque missed an open goal from Finnan's cross, but Gardner failed with just as good a chance when sent through by Pederson, under hitting his finish after going past Taylor and seeing it cleared off the line by Sylvain Legwinski.

After that it was once more all Wanderers, with Pederson's close-range volley, touched over by Taylor, the nearest they could come to snatching victory.