The game marks an end to Villa's dismal record of not having won away from home, but in all fairness the points could have and should have been going in favour of the home side this evening.
Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce had chosen the on loan Andy Oakes as the man to replace the suspended Jussi Jaaskelainen, whilst top scorer Henrik Pedersen made a return to the starting eleven in place of the injured Stelios Giannakopoulos.
As has been the case in the last few matches the game took it's time to get going, the only effort of note in the first twenty minutes came from Bolton skipper Gary Speed who hit a shot from the edge of the area which did little to trouble Thomas Sorensen.
On 21 minutes the lively El-Hadji Diouf put the Wanderers in front with his second goal in three games. A low angled cross from the right by Kevin Nolan was directed past Sorensen by the Senegalese international for the opener.
The on-loan Liverpool forward is improving with every game and this performance was no exception, he worked tirelessly throughout the afternoon and a goal was the least he deserved.
A few minutes after the opening goal Bolton were keen to add to their tally as Kevin Nolan saw his long range effort swerve at the last minute much to the releif of Sorensen in the Villa goal.
Wanderers were playing some neat passing football at times and going very much against the critics who had branded them as a direct, route one team just a few weeks earlier. Fernando Hierro and Gary Speed used their experience in the centre of the park to good effect.
Villa were incensed that the Bolton wing back Ricardo Gardner was allowed to stay on the field after the Jamaican produced a couple of late challenges. Thankfully for the Trotters the referee Andy D'Urso was lenient with the Wanderers star.
Five minutes before the interval Villa forced their way back into the game against the run of play. Lee Hendrie swung in a cross from the left and this was headed home by the Lancashire born midfielder Gavin McCann.
The second half saw much more possesional input from the away side but it was the Wanderers who will feel aggreived at not being able to take the chances that came their way.
Firstly Speed fired high over Sorensen's crossbar in the 50th minute. The former Newcastle midfielder had created the space for himself only to find that the end product went sailing into the top tier of the Family Stand.
On 58 minutes Bolton will feel annoyed that they did not get the second goal that they so much deserved. Henrik Pedersen took advantage of a rare mistake from the otherwise excellent Villa defender Ulises De La Cruz. Sorensen produced a good save from his countryman and the follow up effort from Kevin Davies was cut out by the Villa defenders.
Villa themselves had also looked to gain the upper hand with a second goal but this was not forthcoming. With just over 20 minutes to go Lee Hendrie found himself clean through on goal but was thwarted by Bolton goalkeeper Andy Oakes. Hendrie claimed he had been felled by a Wanderers defender but these appeals were to fall on deaf ears.
On 78 minutes Villa's on loan striker Carlton Cole headed over the crossbar from a Thomas Hitzlsperger cross. Each time the German midfielder Hitzlsperger got the ball near to the goal the Midlands support encouraged him to shoot.
Bolton's Gary Speed then saw his third and final long range chance saved comfortably by Sorensen. The midfielder had worked hard throughout the afternoon but is still looking for his first goal in Wanderers colours since his summer move from Newcastle United.
With eight minutes remaining Bolton introduced Ivan Campo in place of his countryman Fernando Hierro. Campo had been missing for a month with a facial injury but was to get a fantastic reception from the home support.
Trotters goalscorer Diouf was then robbed of a second of the day when he saw his header rattle off Sorensen's left hand post following a neat lobbed cross into the area by Kevin Nolan. This proved to be the last clear cut chance for the home team.
Cruelly the game was taken out of Wanderers reach in the final seconds of normal time when substitute Hitzlsperger volleyed into the roof of the net. The German was not closed down on the edge of the area and had time and space to produce an excellent shot which Oakes could do little to stop.
In hindsight it was a cruel twist of events for Bolton who had worked very hard throughout the afternoon, their first half dominance and second half resilience was not enough as Villa recorded their first away win since defeating Middlesbrough in April. For Wanderers it was to end what had been a very proud home record in Premiership games.