Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Bristol City
- Published
Sammy Ameobi struck his first goal for Bolton since October
Sammy Ameobi's brilliant individual goal was enough to help pull Bolton out of the Championship relegation zone with victory against Bristol City.
Ameobi netted his first goal for the Trotters since October with a fine run and low finish in the second half.
Defeat for promotion contenders Bristol City saw them miss the chance to close the gap on the top two.
Bobby Reid was denied what appeared to be a penalty early in the game when Ben Alnwick collided with him.
Bolton climb to 19th with the victory, which came in the week they sold leading scorer Gary Madine to Cardiff City for £6m.
The win was the first in a league game Phil Parkinson's side had managed without Madine in the side since April 2016.
Ameobi provided the only goal of a cagey game after he won the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and was allowed a free run before shooting from 20 yards out.
He came within inches of a spectacular opener in the first half with a curling left-footed effort.
Zach Clough, who returned to Bolton on loan from Nottingham Forest on transfer deadline day, should have made sure of the points late on with a second goal, but failed to keep his effort on target.
Bristol City struggled for rhythm and Famara Diedhiou's second-half header from close range was well saved by Alnwick.
The Robins stay fifth before the weekend's other Championship fixtures, three points behind second-placed Derby County.
Bolton Wanderers boss Phil Parkinson:
"We showed great resilience. People have written us off all season. We have sold our top scorer and people are writing us off again, so we have to prove them wrong again.
"It felt tonight before the game that people were patting us on the back and saying we were unlucky.
"I said I expected us not to draw, but win the game. Everybody will talk about Sammy, who will get the headlines, but it was a team effort and the players stuck to our game plan and restricted a very good team to few chances."
Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson told BBC Radio Bristol:
"I didn't like our performance and I didn't like our players' attitudes.
"I thought we pulled out of a couple of tackles early, I thought we played into their hands and we didn't get in behind them enough.
"You have to credit Bolton, they were excellent. I thought Sammy Ameobi was the best player on the pitch, which was disappointing."