Bolton Wanderers lead at the break thanks to Chung-Yong Lee scoring five minutes before the whistle. It was largely a frustrating half from Bolton Wanderers who didn't force Jason Steele, the Middlesbrough goalkeeper, into too much action. Bolton had their chances but the vast majority finished just wide. Boro had their chances as well and Adam Bogdan had to make a few saves.
The breakthrough came from Chung-Yong Lee in the 42nd minute after it looked like a nice spell of Bolton football had broken down. Lee got the ball in space after a half-clearance and pushed into the box. He drew Steel out of his six yard box and with Steel going low in order to get his body on the ball, Chungy finished very well from inside the box, chipping the sliding keeper with his ball settling into the corner at the far post.
Boro's best chance came early with Ishmael Miller missing a header from just five yards out. Bolton nearly went ahead on 39 minutes with a Mark Davies drive from the edge of the box that went just wide. Chungy nearly doubled the advantage in first half stoppage time after getting the ball off the feet of Andre Bikey but his shot went just over the crossbar. It should have been 2-0 and Chungy knew it.
Bolton look very unlikely to keep a clean sheet though and need a second goal and soon.