Wanderers bowed out of the Carabao Cup at the third round stage following defeat at the hands of West Ham United at the London Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The hosts broke the deadlock early on in the clash, with Angelo Ogbonna heading home from a free-kick, while Diafra Sakho doubled their advantage on the half hour mark when sidefooting the ball home from eight yards.
The Whites rallied in the second half, but a stoppage time effort from Arthur Masuaku put the result to bed and ensured that Bolton exited the competition.
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Wanderers made a number of changes to the side who started against Ipswich Town at the weekend, with Aaron Wilbraham, Adam Le Fondre and Darren Pratley amongst the newcomers alongside a senior debut for youngster Jeff King.
FIRST HALF
The game started brightly, with Diafra Sakho trying his luck from distance inside the opening two minutes – an effort which Mark Howard had to smother at the second attempt given the nature of his shot.
Just two minutes later however, the deadlock was broken as Ogbonna powerfully headed home from a free-kick.
Marko Arnautovic tried his luck from a similar free-kick shortly after, but saw his shot ripple the side netting with many inside the ground believing it to have hit the back of the net.
The former Stoke man was testing the Bolton defence once again in the tenth minute, this time seeing his shot from 12 yards out blocked, while Andre Ayew saw a daisy-cutter from the edge of the box clip the post on its way out for a goal-kick.
Wanderers were having to withstand a fair bit of pressure, with their Premier League counterparts looking to add to their early lead as the game settled down.
Arnatovic then sprung Bolton’s offside flag with 27 minutes gone with him seemingly set to double the Hammers’ advantage, but his lofted effort failed to even hit the target.
Their second of the evening arrived on the half hour mark however as Sakho sidefooted home from Arnautovic’s pull back eight yards out.
Bolton then did have the ball in the net themselves through Aaron Wilbraham, but the assistant referee had already long blown his whistle for Antonee Robinson taking the ball out of play in the build-up.
Wilbraham was in the mix again soon after, with his close-range header falling kindly for Adrian in the West Ham goal.
Come half time however, the home side’s two goal lead remained just that.
SECOND HALF
The start of the second half saw Wanderers make their first change, with David Wheater replacing Dorian Dervite.
And the opening stages of the second 45 minutes were certainly brighter for the visitors, with Craig Noone narrowly failing to convert Morais' cross at the far post.
King was looking lively too, with the youngster making a number of promising runs which ultimately bred confidence into the Whites.
On the counter attack though, the Hammers still looked menacing with Arnautovic at the centre of their moves, with the forward forcing Howard into a number of smart saves at the death.
Le Fondre meanwhile saw a thunderous drive from distance blocked just short of the hour mark following a clever one-two with Wilbraham.
The tempo of the game certainly dropped thereafter as the final quarter of the clash got underway, with Wanderers able to play their way into West Ham territory as a result.
Chances were few and far between however, with a resolute Hammers defence soaking up Bolton's pressure.
As the game entered its final ten minutes, it was all hands to the pump as the Whites looked for a late route back into the clash, with a mazy Robinson run into the six-yard box deserving more than the corner it earned.
Second-half substitute Jack Earing also saw a drive blocked from 25-yards out inside the dying embers.
Masuaku then added a third for the home side in stoppage time, firing home from distance to put gloss on the result for the London outfit.
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