Gary Speed kept Bolton in contention for a Champions League spot as his second-half penalty earned Sam Allardyce's side their first win at Villa Park for eight years.

The veteran midfielder made no mistake from the spot after Stiliyan Petrov had brought down Nicolas Anelka.

Villa dominated for lengthy periods but were made to pay the penalty for poor finishing and fine goalkeeping by Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Martin O'Neill's side have now gone six matches without a win and the transfer window cannot come quickly enough for the Irishman.

He is in desperate need of new fire-power if Villa are to maintain a push for a European place during the second half of the campaign.

Villa might feel aggrieved by the result but a typically gritty performance from Bolton earned them their fourth away success of the season.

Jasskelainen again showed why he is rated one of the top keepers in the Premiership while centre-back Abdoulaye Faye was also impressive.

Villa skipper Gareth Barry tried his best to earn some tangible reward from the game for his side but the lack of goal threat proved their undoing.

Villa made a promising start despite the poor atmosphere due to large banks of empty seats and Petrov tried his luck from 35 yards with the free-kick which contained plenty of power but was easily dealt with by Jaaskelainen.

A low cross from Villa winger Gabriel Agbonlahor found Chris Sutton in a promising position at the near post but his close control let him down and he was crowded out by the Bolton rearguard.

Agbonlahor skated past the challenge of Pedersen and his dangerous low cross saw attempts from Sutton and Petrov blocked by determined Bolton defending.

Abdoulaye Faye became the first player to be yellow-carded after 24 minutes for a clumsy challenge on Baros and then Kevin Davies followed him into the note-book for a late lunge on Olof Mellberg.

But Villa were let down on several occasions from poor delivery into the box from set plays by both Petrov and skipper Gareth Barry.

Milan Baros had a curling shot deflected wide of the far post by Ivan Campo after exchanging passes with Steven Davis.

Stelios needed treatment off the pitch for a knock on his ankle and was eventually substituted after 31 minutes and replaced by Idan Tal.

Agbonlahor had Villa's best chance of the first half after racing on to a 40-yard diagonal pass from Liam Ridgewell and, although the angle was quite narrow, he should have at least tested Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Bolton only posed the occasional threat although Speed and Kevin Davies came within inches of getting a touch on to a dangerous inswinging free-kick from Campo.

Davies screwed a low shot wide after the initial attempt from Speed had been blocked and was only just wide with a flick header before Pedersen became the third Bolton player to be booked for fouling Agbonlahor.

O'Neill made a half-time substitution with key midfielder Gavin McCann, who presumably was injured, being replaced by Craig Gardner.

And the youngster came close to putting Villa ahead with one of his first touches of the ball.

Barry's deep cross was headed back by Agbonlahor to Gardner who seemed certain to score but Jaaskelainen managed to get enough of his body on to the shot to deflect it past the post.

Barry was trying to drive Villa forward from the left and Pedersen did well to hack clear a dangerous centre from the former England Under-21 player.

Jaaskelainen produced a superb save to finger-tip over a fierce 30 yard drive from Cahill which appeared destined for the top corner of the net.

Agbonlahor shot into the side-netting after out-stripping Pedersen but after 74 minutes Villa were made to pay the penalty for their lack of finishing power as Speed made no mistake from the spot.

Teams:

Aston Villa Kiraly, Mellberg, Cahill, Ridgewell, Barry,McCann (Gardner 46), Petrov, Davis, Agbonlahor,Baros (Angel 71), Sutton.

Subs Not Used: Olejnik, Bouma, Hughes.

Bolton Jaaskelainen, Hunt, Meite (Ben Haim 67), Faye, Campo,Nolan, Speed, Anelka, Pedersen, Davies,Giannakopoulos (Tal 29), Tal (Gardner 57).

Subs Not Used: Al Habsi, Vaz Te.

Booked: Faye, Davies, Pedersen, Gardner.

Goals: Speed 75 pen.

Att: 27,450

Ref: M Clattenburg (Co Durham).