City led, then trailed before securing the spoils thanks to Darius Vassell’s second-half effort and an injury-time strike from Kelvin Etuhu.

The victory eased Liverpool out of the cherished fourth place ahead of their meeting with Manchester United at Anfield and moved Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men to within a point of Chelsea, who visit Arsenal.

While few expect City to remain where they are, their durability is impressing everyone, especially as star man Elano is still missing.

The Brazilian is apparently still being troubled by a hamstring complaint, although the word around Eastlands is that he will be fit for Tuesday’s Carling Cup showdown with Tottenham.

It has long since been proved City are not a patch on the team that thrilled so many at the start of the season without Elano in their ranks.

England Under-21 international Michael Johnson caught the eye with his impressive range of passing, a couple that released Michael Ball and Petrov down the left flank drawing particular appreciation from the home fans.

However, without Elano, City lack an ever-present danger and Bolton were well worth their interval lead despite the fact it was the home side who initially found themselves in front.

In what could only be described as an inconsistent opening period, Ricardo Gardner looked like becoming a Bolton villain as he inexplicably failed to cut out a harmless-looking through ball from Dietmar Hamman.

Vassell pounced and though the former England man saw his shot saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen, he turned the rebound into Johnson’s path and the ball eventually squirted into the path of Bianchi, who prodded home.

Eriksson’s refusal to offer his £8.8million forward a regular starting spot this term has bemused the City faithful, who have seen a variety of front-man fail to deliver.

Bianchi now has four goals this term, including two in two games following his effort at Tottenham last weekend. Only Elano has more, which suggests Eriksson might want to pin a bit more faith in the Italian.

But the presence of Mexican striker Nery Castillo, who is due to sign on loan from Elano’s former club Shakhtar Donetsk next month, will only fuel rumours of Bianchi’s departure.

Eriksson soon had more immediate concerns to worry him though as Bolton swept into the lead.

The Trotters may not be noted for their flowing football but that is exactly what Megson’s men produced for the leveller.

El Hadji-Diouf was involved on three occasions as Bolton switched play from the left flank to the right. The Senegal international’s last involvement was the decisive one as he scooped home Kevin Davies’ astute pass.

Gardner went from hero to villain five minutes before the interval as he took advantage of Vedran Corluka’s dawdling, seized possession, then darted into the box where his cut-back, intended for Nicolas Anelka, was prodded into Nolan’s path by Hamann.

The Bolton skipper had not been at his best beforehand but was happy enough as he drilled into the bottom corner.

Eriksson had to do something at the interval and duly delivered a masterstroke with the introduction of academy graduate Etuhu, who had a hand in City’s equaliser within three minutes of the re-start.

Having failed to score a single goal in two seasons since his arrival at City, Hamann would want to claim a 20-yard curling effort as his own. However, that would ignore a decisive deflection off Lubomir Michalik which will ensure the veteran German’s wait goes on.

After a brief bout of sparring, both sides went looking for the knock-out blow. Andreas Isaksson saved brilliantly from Anelka, then Johnson rolled a shot against a post at the other end.

And it was City who landed the decisive punch as Vassell nipped in at the near post to convert after Petrov had exploited Nicky Hunt’s ill-advised decision to push forward by charging into the space left by the Bolton full-back and crossing for his team-mate to squeeze home.

Twice City went close to extending their lead before Etuhu gleefully blasted home a stoppage-time fourth.