West Ham 2 Bolton 1A Marlon Harewood goal in the fifth minute of extra-time was enough to edge West Ham past an unfortunate Bolton last night and set up a sixth-round meeting with Manchester City. Stuart Pearce, the City manager, had left after 90 minutes so missed Harewood's near-post finish to a Yossi Benayoun cross.

In the final 15 minutes of normal time Bolton had gone close three times, with the lively Kevin Nolan involved in all of them. First he put a shot over the bar, then he crossed for Henrik Pedersen to head off target and finally he nodded down for the hard-working Kevin Davies to fire over the top as well. A victory would not have flattered Bolton, who defended well.

West Ham struggled to find their rhythm, giving the ball away cheaply too often against well-organised opponents.

They had been gifted the lead through a farcical own-goal but failed to build on that and did not manage a concerted spell of pressure, even if they awoke midway through the second half and Tal Ben Haim had to make two good blocks.

The goal was such a freak that both laughs and celebrations must have greeted it. There seemed little danger to Bolton when Harewood, sprinting on to a Nigel Reo-Coker pass, crossed from the right. Dean Ashton was the only striker in the box and Nicky Hunt was well positioned to cover. But Hunt's attempts to put the ball out for a corner turned to farce when his clearance struck Jussi Jaaskelainen, who was on the turf in his six-yard box, and rebounded into the net.

That followed a shapeless opening marginally dominated by Bolton, who must have felt confident of coming back.

West Ham's back line were kept busy after their team went ahead, though Bolton found clear chances hard to come by. Sam Allardyce's side had far more of the possession and looked at their most dangerous when Nolan was breaking forward. He was deployed wide and his work, together with Stelios Giannakopoulos's running and the muscle and lay-offs of Davies, offered the team's best hope.

Two of them combined for Bolton's equaliser just after the half-hour. Nolan played the ball square into Davies' path and the striker hit a swerving shot from outside the box that found its way past Shaka Hislop.

The goalkeeper got a glove to the ball and ought to have kept out the only meaningful effort on target from Bolton during the first half.

West Ham could have no complaints at losing their lead. Though Ashton had forced a save from Jaaskelainen, their passing had been poor and they had no momentum. It summed up their problems when Paul Konchesky struck a long ball which ran straight through to Bolton's goalkeeper.

Matthew Etherington looked their likeliest provider of danger but West Ham found the going hard against opponents who were pressing much more effectively than them in midfield.

Generally West Ham's attempts to mount attacks were frustrated by their own inaccuracies and a Bolton defensive platform in which Gary Speed and particularly Abdoulaye Faye were effective. They won the ball and used it simply, starting the sort of attack that ended with Ricardo Gardner putting a shot into the side netting early in the second half.

Bolton were looking the neater team and likelier scorers at that stage.

Davies, working across the width of the pitch, was doing well but gradually West Ham showed signs of asserting themselves, with Benayoun and Harewood to the fore.

The home side went close to going ahead on 68 minutes. Harewood's cross was flicked on by Reo-Coker and Jaasekelainen, keeping the ball out, found Etherington inside the six-yard box. The winger tried to manoeuvre room for a shot but Ben Haim made an excellent block.

WEST HAM: Hislop, Konchesky, Gabbidon, Mullins, Ferdinand, Reo-Coker (Dailly 98), Scaloni, Etherington (Zamora 105), Benayoun, Harewood, Ashton (Sheringham 105). Subs Not Used: Bywater, Clarke. Booked: Etherington, Harewood, Reo-Coker. Goals: Jaaskelainen 10 og, Harewood 96.

BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, Ben Haim, Jaidi, Hunt (Borgetti 113), Faye (Pedersen 79), Nolan, Speed (Vaz Te 105), Giannakopoulos, Okocha, Gardner, Davies. Subs Not Used: Al Habsi, N'Gotty. Booked: Nolan, Ben Haim. Goals: Davies 31.

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).