Bolton Wanderers - 2 Newcastle Utd - 1: Graeme Souness always suspected Newcastle might just get "a bloody nose" here and such fears were realised as his players received a thorough roughing up from Sam Allardyce's physically formidable side.
An ensemble to make the purist shudder, Bolton blitzed their guests into submission courtesy of a barrage of long, high balls and scored two goals from set-pieces. Quite apart from denying Newcastle the space to indulge any creative impulses, they also ended their 10-match unbeaten run dating back to the time Souness was confirmed as Bobby Robson's successor.
Although the result, which elevates Allardyce's side to fourth, hardly registered as a shock, the fact that El Hadji Diouf, an £11 million misfit with Liverpool, scored one goal, created another for Kevin Davies and won the man-of-the-match award proved a bigger surprise.
If Diouf's unlikely renaissance is testimony to Allardyce's powers of man management, Souness is definitely not about to fall under the Bolton manager's spell.
"I'm disappointed," said Newcastle's manager whose goalkeeper, Shay Given was culpable for both home goals. "Bolton have an intimidating, in your face style. They are all about set-pieces and don't play much football. It was a scrap; they put you under enormous pressure and launch so many balls into the box."
Unimpressed, Allardyce retorted: "Graeme shouldn't comment on our performance except to say we were too good for them. Anyway, most games at every level are decided by set-pieces.
"We may have been scrappy, but we nullified one of the Premiership's best attacking forces."
True, but at least Souness - coincidentally behind Allardyce on Newcastle's original shortlist to replace Robson - encourages his players to pass the ball properly and will not countenance a reversion to such stone-age tactics.
Nevertheless, his decision to play Patrick Kluivert in a slightly withdrawn role behind Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy did not pay off, Kluivert appearing to be a man suffering from deep culture shock long before his substitution.
Bolton never permitted Newcastle to settle into any sort of considered passing groove, leaving them over reliant on Bellamy's startling change of pace.
Diouf's opener was a far-post header derived from a long throw in by Jay-Jay Okocha and flicked on by Rahdi Jaidi. With Given lured off his line and into a collision which broke Jaidi's nose, the ball finally fell to Diouf who duly claimed his first goal since March 2003.
Newcastle seized on a temporary concentration lapse in the home ranks as Darren Ambrose advanced from deep in midfield and embarked on an exhilarating run which carried him past three defenders before he dispatched a 25-yard shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen with his right foot.
Bolton's second goal was once again born of a set-piece, but created this time by Diouf who headed on Fernando Hierro's free-kick, leaving the on-rushing Davies to stretch every sinew and stab the ball beyond the advancing Given from close range.
