Manchester United 0 Bolton 1

Last updated : 11 September 2002 By Footymad Previewer

The Bolton midfielder struck with the only goal of a pulsating Lancashire derby.

The goal stemmed from an uncharacteristic error by David Beckham on the right side of the United penalty area.

As the England Captain attempted to chest down a loose ball, Nolan charged in to drill a tremendous low left-foot shot from 12 yards into the far corner of the net.

It was Nolan who scored the first of Bolton's goals in a 2-1 win at Old Trafford last season as United lost the first of six home Premiership games which ultimately cost them the title.

The writing had been on the wall well before Nolan's late winner. French midfielder Youri Djorkaeff squandered an easy opportunity to touch home a Michael Ricketts cross from close range in the 25th minute.

Three minutes later, united were saved by a brilliant finger-tip save from goalkeeper Fabien Barthez when he touched away Henrik Pedersen's point-blank effort following a mistake by defender Laurent Blanc.

But it was far from one-way traffic with Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

He was beaten in the 39th minute, only to be rescued by the woodwork. Juan Sebastian Veron's superb throughball was pounced on by Ruud van Nistelrooy on the edge of the Bolton box.

As Bolton's defenders looked on in horror, the Dutchman hammered a ferocious right-foot shot against the underside of the bar.

After the goal, United smothered Bolton with pressure, but they found the Flying Finn in brilliant form as Jaaskelainen made two magnificent saves from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Mikael Silvestre in a frantic final five minutes.