A comfortable scoreline of 2-0 in favour of Bolton over Macclesfield hides the fact the Premiership outfit were pushed all the way by their League Two opponents. Bolton secured a fourth round home tie against Swansea thanks to two first half strikes from veteran Kevin Davies and Martin Petrov.
Macclesfield had twice visited Bolton in the League Cup and lost on both occasions but tonight they gave their top flight hosts a real game, particularly after the break when keeper Adam Bogdan ensured the visitor's did not score to ensure a nervy finale.
With Gary Cahill having left for Chelsea the Wanderers began life without their dominant central defender by settling the nerves within a minute of the start.
Davies was on the end of Ivan Klasnic's cross to finish, then Martin Petrov doubled the advantage with a fine 20 yard strike before the half-hour.
But the second-half belonged to Macclesfield, 64 places below Bolton in the Football League pecking order, but Owen Coyle's men hung on for a hard fought win.
Referee: Michael Oliver
Venue: Reebok Stadium Attendance: 9,466
Bolton scorers: Kevin Davies 1, Martin Petrov 26 Macclesfield scorers:
TRIBAL ASKS: On this showing Bolton will need to improve if they want to stand any chance of avoiding relegation from the top flight.
Yellow cards: Boyata (BOL), M Davies (BOL), Hewitt (MAC)
