The 2-0 score is deceptive. After a first-minute shot by Nigerian star Jay-Jay Okocha — saved at full stretch by Fulham’s giant Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar — Bolton, by the admission of Sam Allardyce, their manager, “just capitulated”.
Quite why they were so poor after their 4-1 victory against Charlton last weekend was a mystery. Allardyce said his team’s performance might partly be explained by the fact that, unusually for Bolton, so many players were out after representing their country in midweek.
But he gave a further, perhaps more significant, clue by describing his team’s defending as “abysmal”. He had tried in vain “to tell my defence how to deal with Fulham’s split strikers.
“But I must have said it in the wrong language. I said it in English, perhaps I should have said it in French or Spanish.
“We might (as well) have walked off the pitch and gone into the dressing room, because nobody was doing the right thing.”
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Yet Bolton, however undeservedly, were in with a chance of a draw until late in the game, when Andy Cole struck Fulham’s second goal.
Cole took a pass from Claus Jensen, the Danish midfielder, then cut in unhindered on the right and shot into the left-hand corner of the Bolton goal. His first goal had come at the opposite end of the match, when Jensen’s corner was cleared only as far as Zat Knight. His shot was deflected off a defender, and Cole touched to complete the thrust.
Coleman has dealt impressively in the summer transfer market. This has meant the arrival of Jensen, Papa Bouba Diop, the Senegal international and scorer of that famous winner against France in the 2002 World Cup finals, and Tomasz Radzinski, of Canada.
Coleman was predictably and properly delighted with Jensen. As for Papa Bouba Diop, all 6ft 4in of him: “He’s probably going to upset a few people. But I think that’s what it’s all about.”
After Okocha’s early shot the match was surprisingly subdued — despite several strikes and Fulham’s opening goal.
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For about the next eight minutes, Fulham outplayed their opponents. Jensen crossed from the left and Cole pushed the ball back for Sylvain Legwinski to hit the post. A long-distance free kick from Jensen was pushed away by the Bolton goalkeeper, Jussi Jaaskelainen. Then Cole got his first goal.
He should certainly have scored a few minutes short of half-time as he went round Jaaskelainen only to hit the far post on an open goal.
A minute earlier, his teammate Collins John, playing left and slightly deep behind Cole, had waltzed past the hapless Julio Cesar from a Jensen pass, only to shoot marginally wide.
There was something of a false dawn for Bolton midway through the second half, when Van der Sar dived late to turn round Kevin Nolan’s low shot. From there, though, Fulham made all the running and the opportunities.
A swirling, long-range shot by Moritz Volz, the German right-back, was desperately pushed behind by Jaaskelainen. Luis Boa Morte then rounded Cesar, but Jaaskelainen pushed his shot round his near post. Finally, Cole scored Fulham’s second goal.
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Coleman later praised Cole’s “arrogance” which enabled him to score goals — even if he missed some shots — by constantly popping up in the right positions.
Fulham: Van der Sar, Volz, Goma, Knight, Bocanegra, Diop, Legwinski, John (Boa Morte 65), Jensen (Pembridge 85), Radzinski (McBride 69), Cole.
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Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Hunt, N’Gotty, Cesar, Gardner (Hierro 75), Okocha, Campo (Barness 55), Speed, Nolan, Davies, Pedersen (Giannakopoulos 51).
Scorers: Fulham: Cole 5, 82
Referee: R Styles
Attendance: 17,541