Wanderers were beaten in their latest Sky Bet Championship outing as Brentford took all three points back to London on Saturday afternoon.
The deadlock was broken by the visitors against the run of play late on in the first half, with Yoann Barbet’s 30-yard free-kick giving Ben Alnwick absolutely no chance.
The Bees then doubled their lead with 63 minutes on the clock, with Nico Yennaris thundering the ball home from a similar distance to his teammate, before Ollie Watkins added a third with six minutes from time with a powerful strike inside the area.
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Wanderers made a number of changes from their midweek cup clash away at West Ham, with Gary Madine and Adam Armstrong coming into the fray alongside Reece Burke and Josh Cullen who missed the trip to the London Stadium as part of the terms of their respective loan agreements.
FIRST HALF
The home side started brightly in the clash with Brentford under pressure from the outset, while Armstrong came within inches of forcing the ball home inside three minutes, only for Daniel Bentley to smother the ball away from the forward’s feet with him just two yards out from goal.
The on-loan Newcastle man came within inches of opening the scoring soon after too, with him just failing to connect with Antonee Robinson’s low cross.
A clash of heads between Jem Karacan and John Egan moments later however saw play halted, with both requiring treatment while the latter needed to change his shirt.
Bolton’s pressure continued though thereafter, with Madine seeing his angled poke punched away by Bentley following a corner-kick, while the forward also saw a half-volley crash against the post with 13 minutes gone – an effort which the Bolton faithful were already celebrating as a goal.
The visitors almost snatched the lead against the run of play with 17 minutes on the clock however, with a combination of Ben Alnwick and David Wheater seeing Romaine Sawyers’ drive from 18 yards cleared away from danger.
The chance seemed to give the Bees a boost however, with Josh Clarke shot from a tight angle again being kept out by the Bolton keeper at his near post.
Madine proved his worth again meanwhile moments later, with a lobbed effort ensuring that Bentley was back-peddling to push the ball over the crossbar.
It was end-to-end stuff at Macron Stadium as the game reached its half hour mark, with it seemingly only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken.
And it was the visitors who did so with seven minutes of the first half remaining, with substitute Barbet curling home a free-kick from all of 30 yards.
A sucker punch for the Whites who had dominated proceedings for the most part until that point, they set about looking to level the scores.
And with six minutes of additional time indicated courtesy of the earlier injuries to Egan and Karacan, Bolton threw myself forward in a bid to equalise ahead of the break.
Try as they might however, they were still trailing as Darren England blew his whistle.
SECOND HALF
With no changes to either side at the break, proceedings got back underway at Macron Stadium.
And they came close inside four minutes as a goalmouth scramble ensued, with Wheater nor Madine able to turn the ball home from close range.
The visitors weren't for resting on their laurels however and were breaking forward at every opportunity looking to extend their lead.
The hour mark however saw Wanderers employ a change of tact, with Adam Le Fondre and Craig Noone coming into the mix in the place of Armstrong and Burke.
Moments later though, Brentford had their second of the game with Yennaris thundering home from all of 30 yards - a goal which even drew applause from the home faithful.
It could have been three a couple of minutes later, only for Alnwick to be the hero again as he kept out Clarke's angled drive with his feet.
It was frustrating stuff for the Whites as they sought a route back into the game, while with 16 minutes remaining Aaron Wilbraham was thrown into the mix in place of Robinson as Bolton went all out in attack.
Cullen unleashed an effort on the edge of the box meanwhile with 14 minutes to go, but the shot hit Karacan in the middle of the area en route.
Inside the final ten minutes however, the visitors had their third of the game as Watkins cut inside and drilled the ball into the top corner of the net from a tight angle.
And come the end of the 90, that was the final scoreline as Bolton fell to defeat.
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