Bolton 0-2 Newcastle: Daily Mirror match report

Hatem Ben Arfa put over a year of pain behind him with the goal that proves he is on the way back to his best for Newcastle.

The French star has gone through agony since breaking his leg 15 months ago. But he came on to brighten up a deadly-dull Boxing Day match – and leave Bolton shattered.

Coyle slams his "soft" Bolton side for lack of character  

It was a change by Trotters boss Owen Coyle that ultimately cost his side dear.

The Scot went for the win when he threw on Chris Eagles, but the substitute soon gave the ball away carelessly to Toon’s Ryan Taylor.

He skipped down the left and delivered a cross for Ben Arfa, who was waiting on his own, to ram in a sweet shot.

Before Bolton could gather their thoughts, Paul Robinson’s woeful clearance cost them a second – the kind of criminal mistake that has dogged their season.

Cheik Tiote collected the mis-hit pass and sent away Gabriel Obertan away, who crossed for Demba Ba to poke in a shot that spun into the top corner.

In the blink of an eye, Alan Pardew’s men ended their barren run of six games without a win, leaving Coyle to look on in disgust at an eighth home defeat in nine matches.

Pardew said: “It was important that we gave a more disciplined performance and we did. You don’t want to create pressure on yourselves with a winless run.

“We had round pegs in round holes again. We felt we were not far away and we got back to playing to our strengths. We were more like it.”

Pardew was delighted for Ben Arfa. He said: “It was nice for him to score.

“He had a terrible injury and it has been a long, hard road for him. He is building himself back. He is a big player, he has got a high opinion and regard of his own ability. It’s important to have players like that in your squad. He believes he can change things and he managed that.”

The first half was as stodgy as a day-old Christmas dinner and only improved with some slick set-pieces.

Taylor forced Jussi Jaaskelainen to fly to turn away a trademark 25-yard effort as the Geordies had the better of the opening exchanges.

Martin Petrov brought a superb save out of Tim Krul, who is proving himself one of the best keepers around this season with his height and agility.

But the Toon should have been in front before the break when Taylor’s corner found Leon Best, but his point-blank header went wastefully wide.

Bolton seemed to be looking for the missing Kevin Davies too often, as they kept knocking the ball in the air.

Toon top-scorer Ba played in a slightly deeper role and was slowed down by a crunching tackle from Robinson, but he worried Bolton throughout and gave Gary Cahill a tough afternoon.

The pair squared up a couple of times and the England defender looked to give the Senegalese striker a tap on the back of the head with his boot in one clash.

Petrov was easily Bolton’s biggest threat, smashing a shot wide and sending over a cross that Krul struggled to deal with as he slammed into Ivan Klasnic.

Croatian striker Klasnic was lucky not to be sent off.

He was booked for a foul, then dived in a bid to get a penalty.

Ref Peter Walton gave a free-kick but oddly failed to hand Bolton’s top scorer a second yellow.