Bolton Wanderers Punish Bradford City To Reach Play-Off Final

Bolton Wanderers Punish Bradford City To Reach Play-Off Final

Bolton Wanderers progressed to the League One play-off final with a 1-0 victory over Bradford City at the University of Bradford Stadium. It was a match where Bolton came into the game already holding a 1-0 advantage thanks to Amario Cozier-Duberry’s goal in the first leg.

Heading into the match, Bradford opted to play a 3-4-2-1 system, and the big news for the Bantams was the return of Bobby Pointon, who had missed the last five matches through injury but was thrown straight back into the squad. Bolton, meanwhile, lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape.

The match itself started with very low quality, especially during the first half, with both sides looking nervous and panicky in possession. Neither team really wanted to settle on the ball or take responsibility, and from early on it felt like it was going to turn into a scrappy game with both sides opting to play direct.

When Bradford had possession, they repeatedly tried to find wing-back Ibou Touray out wide, although Bolton did a good job of limiting his ability to get forward and often forced play backwards.

One of the few bright sparks during the opening half came from Bolton’s Ibrahim Cissoko, who had a few nice moments and looked tricky with the ball at his feet. In truth, though, neither side looked like scoring.

Ironically, the best chance of the first half came from a corner when Rúben Rodrigues, the former Notts County man, whipped the ball in directly from the set-piece, forcing Sam Walker into a save just before half-time.

Bradford needed to come out much better in the second half if they wanted to force a goal and put Bolton under pressure, and to be fair to Bradford, they did look the better side after the break.

Following a first half where neither team really wanted to take responsibility in possession, Bradford’s mindset in the second period was clearly to take more touches and play with far more confidence on the ball.