Bolton Wanderers bowed out of the Carabao Cup after the Premier League quality of Aston Villa eventually shone through.
The Whites took a deserved lead in the first half when Dion Charles slotted home from inside the box for his first goal of the season. Douglas Luiz equalised before the break straight from a corner.
The Villans went ahead from the penalty spot when, despite suggestions of offside, Danny Ings won a penalty at the expense of Joel Dixon. He picked himself up to slot home from the spot.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt on Aston Villa loss, 'offside' goal, six changes made & defence
The Villans added a third through Lucas Digne, before Leon Bailey capped off the win with a fourth towards the end. It meant the League One side exited the competition despite a spirited and encouraging performance in a 4-1 loss and bowed out at the second round stage.
Here, we take a look at the game from a Wanderers perspective and the ups and downs from a Bolton point of view.
Ups
Charles off the mark and looking sharp
Charles had only played once so far this season in the opening day draw to Ipswich Town. A slight injury had put him out of action after then.
He returned off the bench in the loss to Sheffield Wednesday over the weekend, before being restored to the starting line-up last night against the Villa. The striker put the hosts ahead against the Premier League side.
The goal got Charles up and running for the season in what is his first full campaign as a Bolton player. He looked sharp against the Villans and it is encouraging to see the striker back fit and firing.
Lee shows quality against top flight opposition
Kieran Lee is being carefully deployed by Wanderers owing to his age, previous injury problems and the type of game Wanderers face. However, when Ian Evatt picks him for the correct encounter, he can have a huge impact.
That was illustrated against the Villans. The former Manchester United youngster helped set up the goal for Charles with his quality on the ball and was a class act throughout the encounter.
Lee is not a guaranteed starter for Wanderers at this stage of his career for the aforementioned reasons. But when picked for the right encounter, he can show his quality and that was the case against Villa.
Kachunga promising as opportunity granted
Elias Kachunga is part of hugely competitive forward line at Wanderers. He has Charles, Dapo Afolayan, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Amadou Bakayoko for competition in that area of the pitch.
But Kachunga is the player with the most Premier League experience in the Bolton squad. It is thanks to his two seasons in the top flight with former club Huddersfield Town.
The attacker looked bright against Villa and nearly put the hosts ahead with a low effort which fizzed just wide. Kachunga was bright throughout and, though he perhaps had a better chance to score in the second half, was encouraging to see.
Downs
Offside call not given proves crucial
There was just over an hour on the clock when Philippe Coutinho slotted a ball through the Wanderers defence to find Ings. He went down cleverly under Dixon's challenge to earn a penalty which he converted to put the visitors in front.
Villa never looked back from that point really and went on to add a third and a fourth. Their fitness and Premier League squad depth came through as the game neared full-time.
But upon second glance, Ings appeared to be marginally offside when running through on goal and thus the flag should really have gone up and no penalty given. It is a shame this was not recognised at the time.
Had it stayed 1-1, there is a good chance Villa may have won anyway and their pressure tell in the end. But it would have been interesting to see what would have happened had the deadlock remained.
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