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Second-half goals from Mikel Arteta and Steven Pienaar gave Everton a 2-0 Premier League win over 10-man Bolton at Goodison Park.

In a close-fought match that saw Everton dominate possession but have the busier goalkeeper in Tim Howard, the 71st-minute sending off of Gretar Steinsson for a professional foul proved the turning point, with Arteta curling in the subsequent free-kick.

The Toffees had a lucky escape 10 minutes earlier, when Tim Cahill was fortunate not to see a second yellow card from referee Alan Wiley for handling in the Bolton box as he tried to create a goalscoring opportunity.

Pienaar added a late second to seal a victory that puts David Moyes's side eighth after Birmingham City lost to Sunderland, with Bolton slipping a place to 14th.

Everton bossed the ball in the first half but Bolton were bright on the break in what was initially an open contest.

The visitors had an early penalty appeal turned down when the ball struck Johnny Heitinga on the arm but it was deemed ball to hand after Kevin Davies flicked it up from right under the Dutchman.

Two minutes later, Victor Anichebe should have scored but, after being played clean through by Cahill, delayed the finish to allow left-back Paul Robinson to fly in with a trademark sliding tackle.

For Bolton, Zat Knight fired straight at the well-placed Howard when Lee Chung-Yong found him unmarked at the far post with an excellent free-kick from the left.

Anichebe, whose career has been decimated by injury, was carried off on a stretcher after landing heavily from a robust challenge with Robinson, clutching his side in agony with what seemed to be a lower rib or hip injury.

Leighton Baines, set to be England's number-one left-back with Ashley Cole and the 'retired' Wayne Bridge both injured, was getting forward with regularity for the Toffees and, on 32 minutes, was denied a clear shot at goal by a superb saving tackle from Lee.

Five minutes later, Bolton had a superb chance when Tamir Cohen blasted inches over after Everton failed to clear a Davies cross as, for all Everton's possession, the visitors looked the more incisive in the final third.

Soon after, Howard was forced into action again, denying Davies with his feet after a superb passing move by Bolton that saw Lee backheel the ball to Jack Wilshere, who slid the Trotters skipper through.

That moment highlighted the mark Owen Coyle has made on his Bolton side so far, although they are at times slow to react defensively, shown in first-half stoppage time when a straight long ball sent Baines clean through, his hesitance to shoot with his right giving the defence time to get back and block as he tried to shift the ball on to his favoured left.

The second half was mostly Everton's, with Bolton restricted to half-chances and shots from range.

Cahill had a header blocked by Steinsson after a teasing ball from Philip Neville, while there was a mini turning point when the Australian - booked in the first half for a wild lunge at Wilshere - escaped a second yellow card when penalised for a handball in the Bolton box.

Wiley could only have decided that the offence - palming the ball past Jussi Jaaskelainen to set up a finish that Andy O'Brien blocked - was unintentional but he was less lenient nine minutes later, when Steinsson was shown a straight red card for a push on Ayegbeni Yakubu after Pienaar played him clean through.

Arteta scored from the subsequent free-kick, a delightful effort that dipped over the wall and snuck inside the left-hand post with Jaaskelainen stranded.

Almost immediately 10-man Bolton nearly levelled, Zat Knight heading over after Davies flicked on a Robinson free-kick.

Everton responded by bringing on Leon Osman for Yakubu as they dominated the final minutes.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov headed Arteta's excellent cross over, while Osman was guilty of a dreadful miss when he smashed the ball against the bar from six yards after Jaaskelainen failed to hold Heitinga's shot.

Osman made up for it seconds later though, with a direct run down the right and a clever ball to the edge of the box that, with a minute of normal time remaining, set up a simple finish for Pienaar to put the result beyond doubt.

Reda Maher / Eurosport