Holden and Bolton Beat West Ham 3-1

Match Summary: Bolton 3 – West Ham 1 (English Premier League)

Bolton Wanderers picked up their first win of the season, beating West Ham 3-1. Early on, visiting Bolton appeared in for a long day, as West Ham dominated much of the first half, and save for heroics from Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen (including a penalty save of a Carlton Cole effort), the Hammers could have been up at half. The second forty-five saw a resurgent Bolton, who were helped by an injury to West Ham captain Matthew Upson. The center back took a cleat to the face courtesy of striker Kevin Davies. Upson’s head and Davies’ foot were in a race to the ball, and though it was hard to tell which arrived first, the blood flowing from Upson’s nose indicated the defender won the race but still ended up worse off. To make matters worse, Upson’s failed clearance went into the net for a 1-0 Bolton lead. Later in the half, Johan Elmander doubled the advantage when he headed in a Chung-Yong Lee cross. A converted penalty (by Mark Noble) with ten minutes left gave West Ham some hope, but Elmander scored his second in the 84th, causing West Ham fans to file out early.

American Performance

Stuart Holden, starting consecutive matches for the first time in his burgeoning Premier League career, had another excellent outing, as can be observed by the following diagram illustrating the accurate nature of his passes.

by Guardian Chalkboards

To further enhance the graphic, FFG has broken down Holden’s 6 unsuccessful passes:

• 10th – Holden attempts to free Martin Petrov along the flank but doesn’t put enough power behind his effort. West Ham right back Julien Faubert easily intercepts.
• 56th – Stuart misreads teammate Chung-Yong Lee’s run, sending a pass wide as Lee cuts inside.
• 60th – Holden telegraphs a pass to striker Johan Elmander. Center back Winston Reid picks it off and starts a counter.
• 65th – While inside the box and in the midst of a few defenders, Holden tries to scoop a pass to Elmander.
• 73rd – This wasn’t really an attempt at a pass. Holden was clearing the ball in defense.
• 76th – After running into space, three defenders close off Holden as he receives the ball, leaving him without an avenue for a pass.

All in all, Holden only made one poor choice (in the 60th), and in two instances (65th and 76th) he didn’t really have anyone to pass to, amounting to another excellent match from the former Houston Dynamo standout.

Gringos – what did you think of Stuart’s performance?