Goals from Hatem Ben Arfa and Papiss Cisse have lifted Newcastle United up to fifth in the Premier League table with a 2-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers.
Goalscoring chances were few and far between during the opening half, with the first shot on target not arriving until the 30th minute when Wanderers winger Martin Petrov drove straight at Tim Krul.
The first chance of the second half fell to the away side, but Krul was on hand to save an effort from Chris Eagles with his legs.
Having struggled in the final third for large parts of the match, hosting Newcastle broke the deadlock courtesy of an individual effort from Ben Arfa 16 minutes from time. The French midfielder picked up possession just inside the Bolton half, before weaving his way into area and shooting low into the left hand corner of the net.
The victory was made certain in the 83rd minute thanks to Cisse, who headed in a cross from Shola Ameobi. That strike took his tally for the club to ten since joining from Freiburg in January.
The Magpies will drop back down to sixth if Chelsea defeat Fulham later today.
Liam Apicella
