Patience was the name of the game as Everton played host to Bolton and continued their fine run of form at home and took all three points.
In a game that largely went by without major incident Everton had to wait for the trotters to go down to 10 men before they sparked into life and showed some class.
Anichebe continued on the right wing in place of the returned loan star Donovan, Saha and Osman return to the Everton team and were on the bench.
Everton were out the traps quicker in the opening minutes with crosses being whipped in by Baines and Neville but as so often with our crosses they were easily dealt with by the freakishly tall Bolton defence.
Zak Knight had the best chance of the opening exchanges, from a cross delivered by Lee to the back post Knight evaded Baines with ease but fortunately his shot lacked power and Howard made a comfortable save.
Victor Anichebe continued his decent run of form when he broke through the Bolton defence after being fed by Cahill but the Nigerian dithered and his heavy touch made it simple for the Bolton keeper to gather up the ball.
Shortly afterwards the Nigerian was involved in a collision and was stretched off. He was replace by Billy. His injury will come as something of a disappointment as he looked to be starting to make that wide right position his own and seemed to balance up the midfield.
Billy did seem to struggle early on as he struggled to make room for himself, something Anichebe had managed well.
Kevin Davies tested Tim Howard with a free kick but truth be told in this game chances were few and far between. Yakubu looked fairly lively with some good closing down and good build up play with the midfield.
Bolton proved to be typically hard to break down and seemed happy to play for a draw.
Everton went in level and the break and you would suppose that Moyes gave some players a talking too and as a result Everton looked much more potent going forward.
Everton peppered Bolton`s goal with shots the early part of the second half. The pick of the chances was Pienaar`s 12 yard left footed volley that was blocked by Steinsson, the ball then fell to Yakubu who had his close range shot saved by Jaaskelainen
Lois Saha joins the action on the hour mark in place of the largely absent Cahill.
Phil Jagielka even managed to test the goalie after a free kick from Mikel Arteta.
Then came the turning point in the game, with Yakubu bearing down on down after a long ball from the back he has bundled to the ground by the last man Steinsson who was correctly issued with a straight red card and leaving Everton with a free kick in a dangerous area.
To rub the salt into Bolton wounds from the resulting free kick Mikel Arteta put Everton into the lead. His free kick dipped over the wall and into the back of the net leaving Jaaskelainen planted to the spot.
The player advantage and the confidence gained by taking the lead really showed and Everton were all over Bolton.
Leon Osman replaced the tiring Yakubu in the 75th minute.
Billy definitely improved in the 2nd half and put in good shift he was unlucky to see his header from inside the area drift harmlessly over the bar.
Louis Saha started to get more involved and a drilled shot from 25yrds was just about saved after a fumble which one of the blues players should have been chasing down.
Cult hero Jonny Heitinga took a well hit shot but it was saved by Jaaskelainen and Leon Osman struck the post.
By this point Bolton were clinging on for dear life and whilst they made some efforts to get forward they never really cumulated in anything significant.
Then the inevitable second goal came after good build up from Leon Osman left Pienaar in acres of room to slot the ball home into the bottom corner.
Much to the crowds delight Phil Neville showed off with a few step overs and a shot which whisked past the near post side netting.
Everton saw out the rest of the game with relative ease which saw them continue their push for Europa League football.
Player Ratings
Howard
Didnt have much to do so cant mark him down. 7
Baines
Crossing still needs to improve 6
Jagielka
Looks shaky at the back and had to rely on Distin and Heitinga 5
Distin
Impressed by his probing runs and long passes that often found a blue shirt 7
Neville
Was never really tested by Bolton get his mark for the step overs alone. 7
Anichebe
Looked decent before the injury 4
Arteta
Great goal and everything good about Everton today went through him Man of the Match 10
Heitinga
Solid as a rock as always 7
Pienaar
Seemed to be a bit out of sorts against the physical Bolton side 5
Cahill
Rubbish he went missing yet again his form has been dreadful 2
Yak
he is getting better week on week could have had a goal today if he had more pace. 7
Billy
He had a poor first half but put in a good shift in the second 6
Saha
Had a good shot but never really got the supply to have a massive impact. 3
Helped craft the second goal but he wasnt on for long 4
Manager Rating
8 good subs tactics were a little iffy