).Their first goal was a fantastic strike, but the player wasn't really being closed down (how many times have we said that this season?). Ehib showed naivety by trying to run with the ball from the edge of his own penalty area whilst surrounded by Bolton players - should've just punted clear to allow us to reset, especially with Dorsett on the floor in the penalty area.
Wing's goal only occurred due to the deflection; I'm sure the keeper would've saved it easily had the ball not spun up above him.
The penalty looked an obvious penalty - the ball over the top was too easy, but Mbengue shouldn't've attempted a challenge there. The player was heading wide of the goal and had little-to-no support. Had he stood his ground, I can't imagine it would've led to anything. I initially didn't realise the referee had given a penalty, as the linesman hadn't flagged for a foul and didn't hear a whistle (the highlights do show the ref did blow his whistle) - so thought the ref had given a goal kick. The argument between Mbengue and Mola following the foul was unhelpful and I think contributed the poor performances of Mbengue and Mola is the second half - as both seemed heavily distracted following that. The penalty itself was calmly executed. It would've likely been a very different game had we gone in at 1-1.
Goal three was far too simple. Gave the ball away too cheaply, the defence was all over the place and Bodvarsson was left completely on his own in the six yard box. I think Mbengue should've been aware, and stayed with, Bodvarsson instead of being drawn towards the ball. Arguably, he had to close down the player who crossed the ball, after the through ball took Wing and Bindon out of the game.
The period between them getting their third and fourth was a by bar our best continued spell of the game. I do want to see our disallowed goal back. I'm guessing Smith was offside when Wing(?) took the initial shot, as Wareham was being Smith when he took his effort. It felt like if we'd got back to 3-2, it would've been a very interesting final 15-20 minutes.
There was also the free-kick just before, which Wing fired straight at the keeper. Had he aimed at the near post with that power and elevation, he would've easily scored. He aimed at the wrong part of the goal for me.
The fourth goal was too simple as well. We had two or three attempts to clear the ball, but each time gave it back to a Bolton player - one of whom eventually smashed the ball in the net. The initial run into the box should've been prevented, with their player going past Mola and Savage like they weren't there. This was the killer - we weren't going to score more three goals to get anything from the game after that.
Our second came from good pressure by Wareham and Mukairu was able to slot home, even after it appeared he took too long to take a shot. Albeit, I think the poor clearance by the Bolton player straight too him was too powerful to get the ball properly under control quickly prior to his shot.
Their fifth was straightforward again. Mbengue didn't apply enough pressure of the wide man, our left-back at this stage (still Mola?) was nowhere near the passage of play - leaving Bindon to try and deal with two attackers. I think Bodvarsson had strayed offside before he scored, but he had no competition for the ball.
We felt defensively poor throughout the game, especially in the second half. Bolton seemed to largely be able to walk through our defence with ease; I would note that some of their attackers had a level of close ball control I can't remember seeing this season - which would make it difficult to defend against.
We had a lot of shots, without being massively threatening. Outside the goals (one deflected, one from a poor clearance) and the offside goal, there weren't any shots I can remember that would be problematic for any goalkeeper at this level.
Whilst I criticised Mola's defensive performance, going forward he looked one of the few players who was willing to run at Bolton's defence - even if his decision making was often lacking once he'd got himself into a good position.
I think both Elliott and Ehib has proven over the past couple of games they shouldn't be starting out wide. Both seem effective out there as impact players, but neither do enough when starting to justify them playing out of position whilst Mukairu is available. I think both would be more effective in the Knibbs role, behind Smith if we're sticking with the current system.
Wareham did well when he came on, although he still looks a level beneath League One at present. Hopefully we'll have him next season and give him enough minutes to assist with his development - he's certainly the closest player we have to Smith atm.
EDIT: I'd also say Pereira's distribution and defensive organisation is a lot worse than Button's. I think we're seeing the trade off between Pereira and Button - as Pereira seems to be a much better shot stopper than Button.
The big positive is every side in the bottom five lost - time is on our side. I think it's eleven more points to guarantee safety now.
