Sturridge has been in superb form since his loan move from Chelsea on transfer deadline day and Everton were unable to stop the youngster, who was forced out of Stamford Bridge by the arrival of Fernando Torres, netting his third goal in three games.

Owen Coyle’s team had taken the lead through Gary Cahill’s first half header and Sturridge delivered the knockout blow with a fine finish as Bolton moved within one point of seventh placed Sunderland.

Coyle’s side had lost five of their previous seven league matches. Despite that disappointing run, the hosts looked confident enough early on and Gary Cahill was just off-target with a header from Matt Taylor’s corner.

In Rome, Lazio recorded their first away victory in the league since October, winning 2-0 at Brescia as the Serie A goals flew in on Sunday.

A double from Antonio Di Natale, his 17th and 18th of the season, helped Udinese triumph 3-0 at Cesena to go fifth while there were convincing home wins for Cagliari and Sampdoria, 4-1 and 3-1 over Chievo Verona and Bologna respectively.

In the battle to move away from the drop zone, a late double from Francesco Lodi saw Catania come from behind to defeat Lecce 3-2 in Sicily.

In Berlin, Lukas Podolski and Milivoje Novakovic scored two apiece as Cologne continued to ease their Bundesliga relegation fears by crushing Mainz 4-2 on Sunday for their third win in four games.

The hosts looked nothing like a team battling relegation for much of the season, scoring at will as Mainz suffered their third loss in five games since the winter break.

Cologne moved two points clear of the relegation playoff spot into 13th place on 25 points with Mainz stuck in fourth on 37.

In Barcelona, Jose Rondon’s injury-time goal on Sunday gave Malaga a 2-2 draw with Getafe in the Spanish league.

Getafe went ahead in the eighth minute when Malaga goalkeeper Francesc Arnau sent a cross from Getafe’s Nicolas “Miku” Fedor into his own goal. Adrian Colunga doubled Getafe’s lead in the 24th minute.