Bolton 1 Sporting Lisbon 1:BOLTON WILL have to conjure another of their Uefa Cup away-day specials if this season's European adventure is to continue.
The odds of reaching the quarter-finals are now stacked heavily in favour of Sporting after Simon Vukcevic cracked a stunning equaliser to cancel out Gavin McCann's first-half opener.
But Gary Megson's side cannot be discounted as they have produced some remarkable results on their travels, notably in beating Red Star Belgrade and drawing with Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid.
With 25 minutes played, Nicky Hunt pumped forward a free-kick from just inside the Bolton half to the edge of the box where Kevin Davies flicked on for Helguson.
The forward, with his back to goal, picked out Matt Taylor with a lay-off to his right and, after his shot was blocked, McCann sidefooted home from 14 yards.
It was only McCann's second goal for the club, with his first the vital winner in Belgrade in December that enabled Bolton to qualify for the knockout phase.
Bolton began to sit back in the second half as they looked to protect their lead and they paid the price in the 69th minute with Vukcevic crashing a 20-yard shot past Ali Al Habsi.
BOLTON: Al Habsi; Hunt, Cahill, A O'Brien, Gardner; J O'Brien (Guthrie, 67), Campo (Teymourian, 84), McCann, Taylor; Davies, Helguson (Stelios, 54). Subs not used: Walker, Samuel, Meite, Vaz Te.
SPORTING LISBON: Patricio; Abel (Romagnoli, h-t), Tonel, Polga, Grimi; Pereirinha, Moutinho, Veloso, Izmailov (Gladstone, 84); Vukcevic, Tiui (A Silva, 79). Subs not used: Stojkovic, P Silva, Purovic, Farnerud.
Referee: A Yefet (Israel).
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