Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce had a fairytale return to the Reebok Stadium as his team thrashed Bolton 3-1 on the opening day of the season.

Newcastle fans were delighted with the style of football played by their team, dispelling any doubts that Allardyce will make the team play boring football. Allardyce will be pleased with his defender, more so since the club has been known to throw away leads o some very poor defending.

New boys Alan Smith, Mark Viduka and David Rozehnal were in the starting line up while Claudio Cacapa was named on the bench for Newcastle while Bolton boss Sammy Lee gave debuts to Jlloyd Samuel and Gavin McCann.

While Lee has promised attractive football to the fans, it was Newcastle who looked the brighter side in the first half. Bolton players looked confused on the pitch, giving away possession cheaply and making a number of defensive mistakes.

The first chance of the match fell to Newcastle in the fourth minute when Viduka latched on to a defensive error by Bolton but his shot was blocked bravely by Gerald Cid. Newcastle were looking dangerous on the ball and it was just a question of when they would take the lead.

It was a defensive howler from Bolton players that led to the first goal of the match. Charles N'Zogbia's curling free kick from a wide position was missed by everybody, including the keeper, and the ball settled into the bottom corner of the goal giving the visitors the lead in the 11th minute.

Ten minutes later Newcastle doubled the lead with a brilliant goal from Obafemi Martins. The Nigerian chested down a James Milner cross before releasing a stinging overhead kick into the goal from close range. Bolton's first chance of the match fell to Gary Speed but his effort was cleared by Smith and Steven Taylor.

Newcastle managed to score a third in the 27th minute when Martins' long range shot took a deflection into the goal with Jaaskelainen wrong footed. Bolton looked shocked and were unable to create any chances, which left Newcastle in a comfortable position at the end of the half.

El-Hadji Diouf was brought on in place of Ricardo Vaz Te as Bolton came onto the field with purpose. A delightful ball from Nicolas Anelka found Gary Speed at the edge of the area but Harper made a fantastic save to deny the Welsh player.

Bolton managed to find a goal in the 50th minute when Anelka smashed home the ball after receiving a pass from Kevin Nolan. However Bolton was unable to create any clear chances after the goal leading to a comfortable victory for Newcastle.

Newcastle next play Aston Villa on August 18 while Bolton face Fulham in the midweek followed by an away trip to Portsmouth on August 18. You can watch live Premiership matches live here on free-football.tv.