Diouf has yet again disgraced himself in our game in England, and seems that he will not be picked up by Bolton at the end of the season, as one too many digraceful acts have weighted heavily on Sam Allardyce and the Bolton Club. Your pathetic Diouf, the sooner you go the better!
Diouf disgrace in cup battle
by Patrick Goss - created on 12 Mar 2005
An early goal from Freddie Ljungberg and the dismissal of Bolton's El Hadji Diouf were the deciding factors as Arsenal moved into the FA Cup quarter finals with a 1-0 win at The Reebok Stadium.
Bolton showed their lion spirit in dominating possession throughout, but their numerical disadvantage may well have cost them the chance of cancelling out Ljungberg's early strike and getting themselves back into the cup tie.
Wanderers were already trailing when, just nine minutes into the game, Diouf petulantly flicked a hand in the face of Jens Lehmann to receive his marching orders and make an already uphill task mountainous.
A breathless, bad-tempered first half had burst into life just three minutes after the first whistle when Arsenal cut straight through Bolton's defence with consummate ease - Robert Pires's through-ball was deftly touched over the onrushing Jussi Jaaskelainen by Ljungberg to hand The Gunners a perfect start.
Already apoplectic, manager Sam Allardyce looked in danger of bursting a blood vessel soon after when Diouf handed him a reminder that all his talent can often be dwarfed by his idiocy.
The Senegalese star was outraged with referee Steve Bennett's decision not to award Kevin Davies a free kick, but lashed out at Lehmann as the German keeper approached the striker and was fully deserving of his dismissal.
The sending off galvanised Bolton, and as they flew into tackles across the pitch, hackles were raised from both teams and Bennett struggled to control the game.
Kevin Nolan attempted an acrobatic shot which was comfortably dealt with by Lehmann, and at the other end, Patrick Vieira deserved credit for staying on his feet when Tal Ben Haim slid in, although it seemed to put him off at a critical moment.
Diminutive Greek winger Stelios Giannakopolous had two headers that kept Lehmann on his toes, as Arsenal showed glimpses of the one-touch football that had handed them the lead.
A one-two between Dennis Bergkamp and Jose Antonio Reyes played the Spaniard in, but Jaaskelainen saved well with his feet.
Reyes tried to make amends when he then handed Ljungberg another shooting chance, but again the big Bolton keeper kept his head to save.
Just as it appeared that tempers were calming Speed was denied a clear free kick and Pires went to ground easily, although there was contact from Ben Haim, earning himself a booking from the official for simulation.
Bolton's desire showed no sign of abating after the break - with Davies typifying the grit running through the side.
The former Blackburn man's control started a flurry of crosses that left Lehmann looking nervous, but typically for Arsenal they then broke away at pace with Reyes and only another fine save from Jaaskelainen prevented the Spaniard from firing home a crucial second.
Allardyce threw on Radhi Jaidi and Vincent Candela as he looked to capitalise on the aerial dominance that had rendered their opponents so nervous, but Arsenal's belief was beginning to flood back through the team.
Gael Clichy was on the pitch at the expense of Ashley Cole, placed on the bench ostensibly through injury but on a day when the back pages were full of the Chelsea approach, and his liveliness down the left was providing fine support for Reyes.
Ljungberg nearly bullied his way through a host of players, and Jaaskelainen continued his fine performance when he tipped over a goal-bound Bergkamp free kick.
Stelios wasted a late chance, again with his head, when he failed to hit the target - and Bergkamp should have put a gloss on the scoreline in injury time but miscontrolled and shot wide when clean through.
The final chance fell to Ljungberg, who contrived to miss the empty net from just three yards out in what may be the worst miss of the season.
Bolton deserve great credit for their attitude, but the truth is that an early lapse of concentration and a moment of madness from a player who has already disgraced himself on several occasions in his brief career knocked them out of the FA Cup inside ten minutes.