Battling Bolton Wanderers jumped to sixth place in the Premier League with a 1-0 victory at Manchester City on Monday, moving them into contention for a place next season in Europe.
Senegal international El-Hadji Diouf tapped in the winner at the far post on the stroke of halftime after a cross from Stelios Giannakopoulos.
Diouf's goal came after a lackluster first half in which neither team looked threatening. City striker Robbie Fowler probably had his team's best chance in the first half -- and the match -- when he shot high over the cross-bar from close range with Bolton 'keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen out of position.
Bolton improved to 43 points in the Premiership standings -- the same as Liverpool in sixth place. Man City stayed in 12th place with 36 points.
Sixth place will guarantee a place in next season's UEFA Cup. Bolton have never played in European competition.
Chelsea leads the Premier League with 71 points followed by Manchester United (63) and Arsenal (61).
Man City coach Kevin Keegan started US national team captain Claudio Reyna, who has missed most of the season with a leg injury. The midfielder played the entire match, but was unable to provide much service up front to Fowler.
Keegan said this week he would retire when his contract expires next year.
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich
Arsenal's leaky defense must somehow repel Bayern Munich today if they are to avoid yet another Champions League disappointment.
The London side have been shorn of injured center-back Sol Campbell since Feb. 1 and without him they have looked suspect at the back, conceding three goals in the first leg of the first knockout round tie in Munich.
A late goal by Kolo Toure gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope -- a 3-1 deficit means they can win 2-0 at Highbury and progress -- yet they are a shadow of the side which went through the last league season unbeaten.
There are few in English soccer outside the Arsenal dressing room who believe the home side can survive 90 minutes against a well-organized Bayern team without conceding a goal, even if the Germans will be without injured striker Roy Makaay.
Arsenal, who have never gone beyond the quarterfinals of Europe's top club competition, strolled past Portsmouth 3-0 on Saturday thanks to a hat-trick from Thierry Henry who was only fitfully involved in the first leg against Bayern.
The Arsenal defense looked shaky in the early stages against Portsmouth and Campbell's replacement Pascal Cygan was injured. Despite the obvious prob-lems, manager Arsene Wenger remains confident.
"Wednesday's game will be more about mental strength. We must regroup, relax and show resilience," Wenger said.
The loss of Makaay, who has scored seven goals in the Champions League this season, with a hamstring strain is certainly a blow for Bayern.
The good news though is the return of playmaker Michael Ballack, who missed the first leg with a thigh injury.
The Germany captain scored the winner against Werder Bremen at the weekend in what was another ultra-professional performance.
Bayern have not conceded a goal since the first leg against Arsenal and a key contributor to that defensive stability has been Martin Demichelis.
The Argentine originally came in as a replacement for Ballack but his performances were so good that coach Felix Magath has had to make space for him since Ballack's return.
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