Low-Block Fortress
Bolton
Bolton handed over the ball and defended the box in numbers — 11 shots blocked or saved on 41.0% of possession.
- Possession
- 41.0%
- Shots blocked
- 1
- Saves
- 10
- Conceded
- 0
Championship · Matchday 7Bolton
T. Gale 90'
1 – 0
FT
HT 0–0
Cardiff
Championship
Matchday 7Bolton1–0Cardiff
0.48
Expected goals
1.79
90′
Shot-by-shot xG is not available for this fixture, so the race is shown as full-time totals: BOL 0.48, CAR 1.79.
Match report
Bolton 1-0 Cardiff
Bolton edged out Cardiff 1-0 at Toughsheet Community Stadium in Championship. Gale opened the scoring for Bolton on 90'.
Expected goals finished Bolton 0.48, Cardiff 1.79. On the balance of chances Cardiff had enough to take something from it, which makes this a result Bolton will take more happily than the performance deserved. Cardiff held 59.0% of the ball.
It was settled late — Gale struck on 90' to swing it Bolton's way with the game otherwise level.
The numbers picked up more than the scoreline shows. Bolton graded out for low-block fortress — 41.0% possession and 1 shots blocked. Bolton graded out for goalkeeper rescue — 10 saves and 1.79 faced xg.
Gavin Bazunu came out of it with the best individual rating on the pitch, 10.0 for Bolton across 90 minutes.
It was a niggly afternoon: 29 fouls between them and 7 yellow cards, with Bolton conceding the most free-kicks (16).
Assembled by TackleZone from this fixture’s match events, team statistics and player ratings. Figures are as reported by the competition feed; where a statistic was not reported, it is left out rather than shown as zero. Longer written analysis is published for selected matches.
Quick stats
41%Possession59%
7Shots17
0.48xG1.79
What the numbers say
6 readsGoalkeeper Rescue
Bolton
Bolton's goalkeeper kept them in it — 10 saves against 1.79 xG, conceding just 0.
- Saves
- 10
- Faced xG
- 1.79
- Conceded
- 0
Wasteful Finishing
Cardiff
Cardiff created more than enough to win it and did not take it — 1.79 xG for 0 goals.
- Expected goals
- 1.79
- Goals
- 0
- Shortfall
- −1.79
Box Occupation
Cardiff
Cardiff kept getting bodies into the area — 76% of their shots came from inside the box.
- Shots in the box
- 13 of 17
- Share
- 76%
- xG per shot
- 0.11
Timeline
Ben Davies
Foul
🟨31'
Kyliane Dong
Simulation
🟨32'
Samuel Iling Junior
Foul
🟨37'
🟨42'
Joel Colwill
Foul
Half-time
T. Bair ↑ S. Dalby ↓
🔄46'
T. Gale ↑ S. Iling Junior ↓
🔄46'
🟨54'
Perry Ng
Simulation
🔄59'
D. Turnbull ↑ J. Colwill ↓
A. Ito ↑ R. Rodrigues ↓
🔄64'
🔄74'
C. Ashford ↑ C. Willock ↓
J. Nelson ↑ K. Dong ↓
🔄75'
🔄75'
C. Robinson ↑ Y. Salech ↓
Jayden Nelson
Foul
🟨78'
R. Hardie ↑ E. Erhahon ↓
🔄83'
T. Gale — assist: T. Bair
⚽90'
Thierry Gale
🟨90+1'
🔄90+2'
C. Scanlon ↑ J. Bagan ↓
🔄90+2'
R. Kpakio ↑ A. Robertson ↓
Match info
Kickoff
VenueToughsheet Community Stadium, Bolton
RefereeThomas Parsons, England
CompetitionChampionship
Season2026
RoundMatchday 7
StatusMatch Finished