Reebok celebration has the air of a wake

It was supposed to be a celebration of a decade at the Reebok Stadium but rather than enjoying their achievements of the last 10 years, Bolton were left to lament what they have lost in five games.

Gone are their fabled powers of resistance and enviable reputation as awkward opponents. Gone, too, is their ability to keep clean sheets.

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Going, or at least in doubt, is their Premier League status.

Under Sam Allardyce Bolton prided themselves on scoring more goals than they gave away from set pieces.

Under Sammy Lee, they ignored their battery of big men at dead-ball situations before being beaten by a last-minute corner, taken by Thomas Gravesen and headed in by Joleon Lescott.

Captain Kevin Nolan said: "We're bitterly disappointed to concede so late on from a set piece. We should make sure that we match them up, stay on our posts and defend the corner properly.

"It doesn't matter how early it is, to be top of the table is fantastic and to be almost bottom isn't. It's going to be a tough old season."

Bolton are 19th and manager Lee said: "It's not a position I want this club to be in but the biggest thing for me is the commitment shown. If we keep on showing that, we'll get out of this predicament."

Nobody was more determined than Nicolas Anelka, whose wonderful volley made him the Premier League's top scorer with four goals.

Mikel Alonso, who hit a post with a thunderbolt, and El- Hadji Diouf also excelled.

But Bolton's problems lie at the back. Lee said: "We were sloppy, particularly for their two goals. They were basic errors. The biggest thing in any football club is clean sheets. If you don't keep clean sheets, you're not going to win many games."

The size of Lee's task was apparent in the ease with which Everton scythed through their hosts for the opening goal.

After Phil Jagielka and Steven Pienaar combined on their debuts, Andrew Johnson sped away from the sliding Gerard Cid and centred for Aiyegbeni Yakubu to score on debut.

It provided David Moyes with an 11th-minute return on his £11million investment.

"That's one in one. All we want him to do is keep that ratio up," joked the Everton boss.

"He always looked a threat, but it would be difficult to praise him without praising Andy Johnson. He did a lot of the spade work for the goal."

Gravesen, Everton's deadline-day arrival, was introduced with half an hour left and it was not just his lurid yellow boots that made him conspicuous.

Moyes said: "He gave us a calmness."

The Everton manager has detected a change in the Dane after two-and-a-half years away.

"He's probably madder, which might be hard to believe," he said.

BOLTON (4-3-2-1): Jaaskelainen 7; Hunt 5 (Davies 80min), Meite 5, Cid 5 (O'Brien 46, 5), Samuel 5; Alonso 7, McCann 5 (Wilhelmsson 56, 7), Speed 7; Nolan 5, Diouf 7; Anelka 8. Booked: Hunt.

EVERTON (4-4-2): Howard 7; Jagielka 7, Yobo 7, Lescott 7, Baines 7; Pienaar 7 (Osman 70, 6), Neville 6, Carsley 6 (Gravesen 61, 8), Arteta 7; Johnson 8, Yakubu 7 (Anichebe 84).

Booked: Baines, Lescott, Gravesen.

Man of the match: Thomas Gravesen.

Referee: Peter Walton.