Premier League, Bolton vs. West Brom: Owen Coyle, Roberto Di Matteo reflect on Boxing Day performances
Owen Coyle, manager of Bolton Wanderers, has admitted that his team did not put in their best performance in their Boxing Day match against West Bromwich Albion, even though they managed to win 2-0.
Matt Taylor scored first for Bolton, bagging his fourth goal for the season; and later on it was http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Johan-Elmander-c18782, who got his ninth goal of the season to complete the 2-0 win. It was Bolton’s fifth win at home this season.
A significant feature of the victory was the clean sheet for Bolton. The Trotters had not been able to maintain a clean sheet since the opening day of the season. However, they also had the West Brom attack to thank for that –
the Baggies wasted numerous chances to score.
But Coyle didn’t take anything away from West Brom.
"West Brom were terrific, they had some great chances to score but they didn't take them,” said Coyle. “We scored two good goals in the game and we could have had a couple more ourselves.
"There were a lot of nice attributes today that we'll need as the season goes on. We had to defend with our lives at times, we stood up and it's great to get a clean sheet”
Coyle was very gracious in his praise of West Brom, calling them "pleasing on the eye”, but acknowledged that his own team did not play as well as it could have.
“We weren't at our maximum but we scored two good goals and won and that was the most important thing,” said Coyle. “Their [West Brom’s] better chances came when we were one-up and whether we subconsciously looked to play on the
break, I don't know. But it's very pleasing to have won knowing we can play better."
Meanwhile, West Brom manager Roberto di Matteo had contrasting remarks to make after the match. Di Matteo was clearly disappointed that his team could not make use of the multiple chances they had created for themselves.
“It seems that it is not the first time where we had the majority of possession and created the better chances," said di Matteo. "We have to be more clinical otherwise you get punished. We are scratching our heads a bit; we had
more chances but we know that it's our weakness. As long as we keep creating then we will take them sooner or later. We hit the post, had one-on-ones and had one cleared off the line but you need a little bit of luck sometimes.”
"We are trying very hard and putting a lot of effort in. We have to move on and get this game out of our system."
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