Lee helps Coyle silence Burnley critics

Lee Chung-Yong helped Bolton manager Owen Coyle silence the taunts from former club Burnley as the South Korea midfielder sealed a 1-0 win over the Clarets on Tuesday.

Coyle was facing the team he left in acrimonious circumstances just three weeks ago and Lee’s first half strike ensured the fierce abuse that rained down on him from Burnley’s travelling supporters eventually petered out.

Even more importantly, the result allowed Bolton to move out of the Premier League relegation at the expense of local rivals Burnley.

Coyle knew he was in for a hard time from the 5,000 Burnley fans who made the short trip across Lancashire and they didn’t waste any time showing their distaste for the Scot.

Formerly proclaimed as “God” by Burnley’s supporters, Coyle was deluged with abusive chants from the away end, while one banner read “He is not the Messiah”.

Brian Laws’ visitors were looking to end a woeful run on the road during which they had taken only one point out of a possible 33.

But after a scrappy start, Bolton should have taken the lead when Fabrice Muamba found himself clear on goal after being released by Matt Taylor but the midfielder shot wildly over the crossbar.

Burnley finally found some attacking rhythm and Chris Eagles squandered a golden opportunity when he mishit the rebound after Jussi Jaaskelainen parried Steven Fletcher’s shot.

Christian Kalvenes threatened for Burnley with a rasping shot that beat Jaaskelainen but finished the wrong side of the post.

Bolton responded superbly as Lee gave them the lead in the 35th minute with his fifth goal of the season.

The Korean has been in superb form since moving to the Reebok Stadium at the start of the season and he demonstrated his quality with a clipped shot that hit the underside of the bar and crossed the line despite Michael Duff’s attempt to clear.

David Nugent had a chance to equalise for Burnley when he raced onto Eagles’ pass but Jaaskelainen raced off his line to save.

Bolton stepped up the pace at the start of the second half with Lee and Kevin Davies both seeing efforts go wide of the target.

When Muamba had a shot from 25 yards deflected to safety in the 62nd minute, Laws had clearly had enough and sent on striker Frederic Nimani for his debut.

Yet Bolton finished stronger and substitute Ricardo Gardner saw his effort turned away by Jensen, but Coyle’s men had already done enough to claim the points.