Bolton Wanderers 0 - 4 Chelsea
Trotters trounced by Blues
| Scoring Summary | |
| Bolton Wanderers | Chelsea |
| Frank Lampard (pen 45) | |
| Deco (61) | |
| Zat Knight (og 82) | |
| Didier Drogba (90) | |
| Match Stats | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | Chelsea | |
| Shots (on Goal) | 15(2) | 32(13) |
| Fouls | 11 | 7 |
| Corner Kicks | 8 | 10 |
| Offsides | 0 | 4 |
| Time of Possession | 32% | 68% |
| Yellow Cards | 1 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 1 | 0 |
| Saves | 10 | 2 |
| Match Information |
|
Stadium:
Reebok Stadium, England
Attendance: 22,680 Match Time: 15:00 UK Official(s): Peter Walton (Referee) |
| Teams | |
| Bolton Wanderers | Chelsea |
| 22 Jussi Jaaskelainen | 1 Petr Cech |
| 12 Zat Knight | 26 John Terry |
| 5 Gary Cahill | 6 Ricardo Carvalho |
| 3 Jlloyd Samuel | 19 Paulo Ferreira |
| 18 Samuel Ricketts | 2 Branislav Ivanovic |
| 30 Chris Basham | 5 Michael Essien |
| 6 Fabrice Muamba | 20 Deco |
| 21 Tamir Cohen | 8 Frank Lampard |
| 27 Chung-yong Lee | 13 Michael Ballack |
| 14 Kevin Davies | 11 Didier Drogba |
| 9 Johan Elmander | 39 Nicolas Anelka |
| Substitutes | |
| 4 Paul Robinson | Juliano Belletti 35 |
| 7 Matthew Taylor | Joe Cole 10 |
| 11 Ricardo Gardner | Florent Malouda 15 |
| 31 Andrew O'Brien | Ross Turnbull 22 |
| 15 Gretar Rafn Steinsson | Alex 33 |
| 26 Ali Al Habsi | Daniel Sturridge 23 |
| 16 Mark Davies | Fabio Borini 45 |
| Substitutions | |
| Paul Robinson for Chris Basham (45) | |
| Ricardo Gardner for Chung-yong Lee (45) | |
| Mark Davies for Fabrice Muamba (66) | |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Paul Robinson (56) | Paulo Ferreira (79) |
| Red Cards | |
| Jlloyd Samuel (45) | |
| · Club Squads: Bolton Wanderers | Chelsea | |
Updated: October 31, 2009, 7:19 AM UK
Chelsea won at Bolton for the seventh league game in succession to stamp their hold on top spot in the Barclays Premier League.• Ancelotti sets sights on United
Beaten in their last two away games, there was no chance of the west Londoners suffering a third against the hosts, who had Jlloyd Samuel sent off.
Chelsea have now scored eight goals in four days against Gary Megson's team, and were brutally destructive when confronted with a team a man down.
It was hard enough for Bolton when they had 11 on the park, but they were just victims for Chelsea to bully after Samuel's red card.
Frank Lampard's penalty in first-half injury-time set up this win, with the key moment being Samuel's red card for the trip on Didier Drogba which conceded the spot-kick.
Bolton worked feverishly but it was always a losing battle. Deco added the second and Zat Knight's own goal made it 3-0, before Didier Drogba grabbed a fourth in injury-time.
Bolton brought back goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and striker Kevin Davies, both rested when these two sides clashed in the Carling Cup fourth round at Stamford Bridge in midweek.
The hosts had Chris Basham in for his first start of the season as Bolton aimed to inflict Chelsea's third successive away defeat on them, while Chelsea reverted mainly to their Saturday-best side.
Tamir Cohen's header over from Lee Chung-Yong's free-kick was Bolton's only serious early chance as Chelsea had five decent early openings.
Drogba headed just over from a Nicolas Anelka cross, then Jaaskelainen touched over another effort from the big striker before saving from Anelka.
Michael Essien flashed an angled effort just wide, before Drogba got clear and was only halted by Jaaskelainen's outstretched boot.
Bolton persisted with their set-plays and aerial attacks aimed at Davies and Johan Elmander, and the ploy concerned Chelsea's defence.
The visitors had a 30th-minute Branislav Ivanovic strike ruled out by a linesman's flag - Michael Ballack was adjudged to be offside. Chelsea players complained bitterly, but referee Peter Walton was unmoved.
Bolton were soon back under pressure - and in the final seconds of injury-time, Chelsea were ahead, after Drogba had been brought down. Lampard lashed home the penalty.
Gary Megson made two half-time changes, sending on Ricardo Gardner and Paul Robinson for Basham and Lee.
Cohen lashed a free-kick over after John Terry had bodychecked Gardner in full flow, then Cohen was too slow to react to a fine Davies knockdown and Essien produced a remarkable saving tackle a yard out.
Drogba was booed every time he touched the ball by Bolton's fans, but he did not dive for the penalty having been clearly caught from behind.
Jaaskelainen made fine saves twice at the feat of the Ivory Coast star, and then from an Anelka effort before Lampard crossed an 18-yard effort against the bar.
Robinson was booked for a foul on Ivanovic before Jaaskelainen beat away a fierce Anelka drive after the former Bolton man had cruised past three defenders.
Chelsea had been under pressure in the air from set-plays, but when they broke from defence after 61 minutes they grabbed their second.
Anelka was the architect, streaming down the left before angling his pass for Deco to sidestep Paul Robinson's lunging tackle to clip the ball into the net.
Bolton sent on Mark Davies for Fabrice Muamba after 66 minutes, with Chelsea firmly in control.
Paulo Ferreira was booked late on, but Chelsea were in full control and it was 3-0 when Knight - under pressure from Ivanovic - got the final touch to Ricardo Carvalho's cross.
Bolton, to their credit, kept coming forward and won a succession of corners which Chelsea were at last beginning to defend properly.
But Chelsea got their fourth in injury-time when Anelka's cross was flicked on by Lampard for Drogba to fire home.
He said: "It was our aim to make sure that we were still top of the league when we play Manchester United next week. We can now play Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday with confidence and prepare for a really great match against United.''
He added: "We accepted the criticism after losing our last two away league games at Wigan and Aston Villa, and we have responded very well. It was important to improve after not doing well. After the Villa game we have certainly improved and we are still top of the league.''
Ancelotti's team were never under any real threat, despite a spirited Bolton display. He said: "I feel we are doing very well at the moment, this was a good performance. It was difficult in the first-half, Bolton were very strong and fought hard against our midfield. After the penalty we maintained our concentration in the second-half and won a very important match.
"We have Manchester United now next in the league, but we have an important Champions League game with Atletico Madrid first, and that is our first priority. We must concentrate on our place in the Champions League group, but we are happy with where we are in the Premier League. Bolton did their best with a different system to the one they used in midweek, and it was a problem.''
Bolton boss Gary Megson was critical of the penalty decision that gave Chelsea their opener and resulted in defender JLloyd Samuel being sent-off. Megson has also run the risk of upsetting the FA with a remark about referee Peter Walton, who has been involved in controversial decisions with Bolton in the past.
Megson said: "It was a soft penalty, I have seen them given and not given. Samuel didn't do anything wrong other than to try to get at the ball, I have no problem with (Didier) Drogba, who took the ball across his body and there was going to be contact. The referee had a decision to make, and when you get Peter Walton, penalties and Bolton there is only one thing that is going to happen.''
Megson added: "Any of the top six teams playing against ten men and with a lead would not quite have a stroll, but they would do the right things at the right time and that is what Chelsea did.
"They made nine changes from midweek, and they had plenty to spare. But there has to be some reality here, we were playing against a club who have spent £200m on players, they are one of the best teams in the world and they will have an advantage.
"They looked very strong, very motivated and they wanted to win everything put in front of them. We may have been beaten 4-0, but we were terrific. We matched them in their diamond midfield formation, we didn't struggle against it.
"But where as they had Lampard, we had Chris Basham; where they had Michael Ballack we had Tamir Cohen and where they had Deco we had Fabrice Muamba. And Chung Yong Lee was up against Michael Essien. You pay big money for that quality, but we worked really hard man-for-man against all four of those players.''
Saturday, October 31, 2009
| Arsenal | 3 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | FT |
| Bolton Wanderers | 0 | |
| Chelsea | 4 | FT |
| Burnley | 2 | |
| Hull City | 0 | FT |
| Everton | 1 | |
| Aston Villa | 1 | FT |
| Fulham | 3 | |
| Liverpool | 1 | FT |
| Portsmouth | 4 | |
| Wigan Athletic | 0 | FT |
| Stoke City | 2 | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2 | FT |
| Sunderland | 2 | |
| West Ham United | 2 | FT |
| Manchester United | 2 | |
| Blackburn Rovers | 0 | FT |