Frank Lampard underlined his importance to Chelsea
with a hat-trick at the Reebok Stadium as the Blues
closed the gap at the top of the Premier League by winning
5-1 on an afternoon to forget for Bolton goalkeeper
Adam Bogdan.
With the hosts cutting through their opponents' defence
at will, Lampard and Daniel Sturridge - scorer of eight
goals in 12 games during a loan spell with Wanderers
last season - both netted twice in the first half, two
errors in quick succession by Bogdan allowing each player
their second.
Dedryck Boyata scored his first Bolton goal soon after
the restart, but it counted for little as Lampard dispatched
his third of the day in the 59th minute.
It means the London side go back up to third in the
table and are once again three points away from joint-leaders
Manchester United and Manchester City.
Bolton, meanwhile, stay rock bottom, with their losing
streak in the league extending to six games.
While Bogdan - in the Trotters team for the injured
Jussi Jaaskelainen - endured a nightmare, it was a dream
performance from Lampard, who followed up his midweek
goal in the Champions League draw at Valencia in style
and made it clear that after a recent spell on the bench,
he still has plenty to offer.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas also handed Didier Drogba
a start, the Ivorian taking the place of the suspended
Fernando Torres, while Sturridge returned as well having
recovered from a knee problem.
The hosts' line-up showed five changes from last weekend's
3-0 defeat at Arsenal, with Bogdan, Boyata, Gary Cahill,
Ricardo Gardner and skipper Kevin Davies the men coming
into the first XI.
Bolton were looking for a positive result to lift them
out of the relegation zone, but having been defeated
the last eight times they had hosted Chelsea, the omens
were not good and within two minutes, they were behind.
Jose Bosingwa's cross was intercepted by Boyata to
earn the Blues a corner and when Juan Mata swung it
in, Sturridge rose unmarked to convert, the forward
abruptly halting his celebration against his former
club.
Moments later Sturridge fired narrowly wide as the
visitors threatened to run riot.
At the other end, David Ngog skewed an effort high
and wide, catching John Terry with his boot in the process,
and Martin Petrov hit a free-kick into the wall after
Raul Meireles had brought down Darren Pratley.
It was not long before Chelsea were back on the attack,
though, and on the quarter-hour mark it was 2-0 as Sturridge
squared in the box for Lampard, who had the space to
slot the ball past Bogdan.
Almost immediately, Bogdan was called upon to stop
Lampard scoring another and Mata then skied his attempt
from Sturridge's cross.
Bolton needed a response but were unable to make much
of a couple of corners before two howlers in two minutes
by Bogdan saw the game effectively end as a contest.
First the young Hungarian let Sturridge's shot from
the edge of the box loop in off him in the 25th minute
when he should have saved.
He then parried David Luiz's strike straight at the
feet of Lampard, who tucked it away gleefully.
The shell-shocked hosts managed to wrestle back some
possession, but were unable to produce much going forward.
Davies saw a shot deflect wide and the resulting corner
came to nothing.
The Wanderers captain and Cahill then got in each other's
way while jumping to meet a free-kick, and after Bogdan's
save from Mata had been greeted by ironic cheers, referee
Peter Walton blew for half-time with boos ringing out
around the stadium.
Bolton manager Owen Coyle replaced Gretar Steinsson
with Zat Knight at the interval and having started the
second half positively, Wanderers pulled a goal back
a minute in when Boyata nodded in Petrov's free-kick.
The hosts did their utmost to sustain the pressure,
but it took a great tackle by Knight to halt Drogba's
progress and Ramires then shot over after Bogdan had
made another mistake, flapping at a corner.
Drogba flashed an effort across the face of goal and
was the provider when Chelsea added to their lead soon
after, laying the ball across the area for Lampard to
sweep in.
Bolton refused to give up and thought they had scored
again when Davies prodded in Petrov's cross.
But although replays appeared to show the ball had
crossed the line before substitute Branislav Ivanovic's
clearance, Walton ruled it was no goal.
Sturridge then dragged a chance to complete his own
treble wide before Wanderers substitute Chris Eagles
saw his effort come back off the post.
|
