Swansea City maintained their unbeaten Premier League home record as three second-half goals saw off a Bolton side that had been reduced to 10 men early in the second half.
The game turned decisively in the hosts' favour four minutes after half-time when the visitors had Ricardo Gardner sent off when he collected a second booking for cynically hauling back Nathan Dyer, and Joe Allen gave Swansea the lead from the resulting free-kick. Allen was afforded far too much room by Gary Cahill and Gretar Steinsson to shoot low into Jussi Jaaskelainen's bottom right‑hand corner.
Bolton's manager, Owen Coyle, complained afterwards about the lack of consistency shown by the referee Mark Clattenburg. Bolton had felt aggrieved by Clattenburg's dismissal of David Wheater in last month's loss at Arsenal, and Coyle claimed here that the two bookings Gardner had received were "soft" and that Swansea players had escaped sanction for similar fouls.
"It felt like two soft yellow cards, but that's the nature of the game now," Coyle said. "But having said that, [Neil] Taylor in the first half clearly pulled Mark Davies back and it went unpunished."
Bolton had defended obdurately during the opening half, and came close to taking a first-half lead through David Ngog. His smart turn and volley forced Michel Vorm to acrobatically tip the ball over the bar.
Soon after the restart Danny Graham had come within inches of finding the opener as he shot wide from a Scott Sinclair pass before the game was turned on its head with the red card and Allen's free-kick.
Dyer almost added a second after 50 minutes as he jinked his way into the area to force Jaaskelainen to block with his legs, before Sinclair did increase the lead as he converted his third spot-kick of the season after Darren Pratley, formerly of Swansea, had fouled his former team‑mate Angel Rangel in the area.
Bolton were given some hope in the 73rd minute when Swansea conceded at home for the first time this term, as Danny Graham diverted the ball into his own net in trying to clear an inswinging cross from Chris Eagles.
Coyle threw skipper Cahill up front for the final minutes but he had little impact and Graham, Swansea's record signing, redeemed himself by producing his fourth goal in four games in added time. He was given the freedom of the Bolton half to race clear and beat Jaaskelainen.
Ahead of upcoming fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester United, Swansea moved into the top half of the table. Brendan Rodgers was understandably delighted, the Swansea manager saying: "That was a terrific performance against an established side, but the most impressive thing today was how we managed the pressure. We spoke in the week that in every game you will have moments, no matter how comfortable you are, where you have to manage the game.
"Last week we failed to do it and drew 2-2, but this week when Danny scored the own goal to put them to 2-1 you then saw the difference in the team."
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