Middlesbrough 1 - 3 Bolton Wanderers

Middlesbro' 1-3 Bolton: Elmander ends drought

Updated: November 22, 2008, 5:13 PM UK

Bolton's record signing Johan Elmander finally showed a glimpse of the reason why Gary Megson stumped up £10million for him in the summer with a stunning late strike to help sink Middlesbrough 3-1.

• Megson purrs at Elmander goal

The Swede had been axed by his national team and endured countless votes of confidence from his manager after failing to hit the net since the opening day win over Stoke.

But Elmander provided the best possible answer to his critics when he chested down a Jlloyd Samuel cross in the 78th minute before lashing an unstoppable left-foot shot past Ross Turnbull.

Elmander's late heroics extinguished Boro hopes of a grandstand finish after Stewart Downing had given them hope of extending their unbeaten record to six games with a low strike two minutes earlier.

But the truth was Boro never deserved a thing from an afternoon in which they started appallingly and found themselves two goals down after strikes by Kevin Davies and Matt Taylor with just 10 minutes on the clock.

Shell-shocked Boro had started like anything but a team in the midst of a confident unbeaten run and it could have been even worse with Gary Cahill glancing a header into the arms of Turnbull with seconds on the clock.

Then Turnbull had to be wary of his flat-footed defenders to race out and deny a clean run for Kevin Nolan, who had been sent scampering through the Boro back-line by the lively Elmander.

By the eighth minute a goal for the visitors seemed inevitable and it came when Taylor floated a deep free-kick across goal for Gretar Steinsson to head into the net via a wicked deflection off Davies.

Boro did not learn their lesson and two minutes later were further behind when Taylor found space in the box with a delightful twist past Gary O'Neil before lashing home a right-foot shot off Turnbull's far post.

Rattled Boro belatedly rallied and were only denied a goal of their own two minutes later when O'Neil drilled a low shot through a crowded box only for Nolan to punt it clear off the line.

Boro came close again in the 23rd minute when Afonso Alves scampered down the left flank and cut neatly inside Cahill only for his attempted cross into the box to be booted away by Samuel.

But the match was predictably becoming a fractious affair with Bolton happy to keep what they had and Boro's frustration showing when Didier Digard was the second man booked for hacking down Davies.

Boro looked better at the start of the second half and came close in the 48th minute when Tuncay helped on Justin Hoyte's deep cross only for Andy O'Brien to steer the ball out for a corner.

The busy Tuncay was just squeezed out again in a similar fashion in the 56th minute and one minute later Bolton should have gone further ahead when Elmander sent Fabrice Muamba clear but he shot woefully wide from 12 yards.

Bolton continued to be more than content to let Boro's blunt strike-force have most of the possession and sporadically threatened on the break, Taylor dipping a lob just over the bar in the 72nd minute.

The game threatened to burst into life in the 75th minute when Bolton failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Downing who lashed home a superb left-foot shot from the right side of the box.

But just two minutes later Bolton replied with a stunning strike from Elmander, who chested down Samuel's pass and crashed in a left-foot drive of his own to effectively seal the win.

There was still time for Tuncay to come agonisingly close to reducing the deficit again and for Cahill to boot another O'Neil effort off the line - but thanks to Elmander the points were safe.

Megson purrs at Elmander goal

Bolton boss Gary Megson expressed his delight after watching £10million record signing Johan Elmander wrap up victory at Middlesbrough with his first goal since the opening day of the season.

Megson has consistently backed his mis-firing Swedish striker who was recently axed by his national team and his stunning 78th-minute goal today showed the kind of quality he has.

Megson said: "I must admit in all my time as a player and a manager I've never been more pleased for someone to score. It has taken a huge amount of pressure off Johan which I felt was a bit unfair.

"He did the same today as he's done in nearly every game for us. His quality is exceptional and his workrate is exceptional. Now people will start looking at him in a different way because of the goal he's scored.''

Megson added: "We got a terrific start but we didn't press it home and we were looking to hang onto it instead of pushing forward. We are a bit of an enigma at the moment.

"We spoke at half-time about having that little bit of belief and that will come from myself and the staff and everyone connected with the club. They need a bit of help to believe in themselves.

"Our first goal was always going to make it difficult but we should have made it more difficult for Middlesbrough today. But hopefully we can keep improving in the short term to get where we want to be in the long term.''

Boro boss Gareth Southgate admitted he could find no immediate answer for his side's flat display and conceded Megson's more lively visitors were full value for the three points.

Southgate said: "We didn't deserve anything from the game and we made the wrong decisions too many times. When you have a start like that you give yourselves a mountain to climb.

"We didn't make the game simple enough and sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say they deserve it.

"It was also disappointing because we spoke about when we get the momentum there will be a swing in the game. But we didn't have that long enough to make it count and to concede just after we'd scored killed the game.''