Bolton Vs. QPR, 2012 Premier League: Vital Win For Bolton

Talk about a timely win for Bolton Wanderers. Owen Coyle's men earned only their third home win of the season against fellow relegation strugglers Queens Park Rangers to claw their way free of the relegation zone and move into 16th place.

It was by no means a straightforward victory, though - although the hosts went 1-0 up before halftime, it was QPR who provided the bulk of the threat in the first half and the visitors were desperately unlucky not to have opened the scoring. First, Bobby Zamora rattled the crossbar with a brilliant hit from a tight angle, and then centre back Clint Hill actually did score from a corner only for Adam Bogdan to claw the ball away from inside the goal, with the linesman totally oblivious.

Bolton, who were riding their luck against a team that looked capable of doing immense damage on the counterattack, then had a goal handed to them on a plate. A busted free kick routine suddenly transformed into a potent attack, with Tim Ream crossing into a muddled QPR defence and Darren Pratley heading home for a 1-0 lead.

Shortly after the break, Djibril Cisse leveled from a suspiciously offside position - it wasn't exactly the finest day from the officials at the Reebok - and the rest of the game turned into a frenetic back and forth which involved several episodes of pinball in each box. Eventually, however, the home side came through, and substitute Ivan Klasnic sealed the win in the closing stages after excellent work from Ryo Miyaichi, slipping past Paddy Kenny in the 86th minute to earn the Trotters a huge 2-1 win.

With Blackburn Rovers playing Wolverhampton Wanderers in one of the 3:00 PM matches, Bolton aren't guaranteed to end the week outside the relegation zone, since a scoring draw in that game would see them drop into 18th. But even if they still are in the bottom three come Monday, they've given themselves a huge boost here, and QPR are now in some real trouble.