Chelsea 4 Bolton 3: Blues are hot to Trot – until late scare

In the dying seconds of a chaotic afternoon, Branislav Ivanovic nudged Gary Cahill's shot off his own line and Chelsea's points were breathlessly preserved. Stamford Bridge reacted with muted applause and heartfelt relief. Nobody was fooled.

• For Chelsea had been strolling home, four goals to the good, when their defence was almost indecently exposed. Bolton, who had scarcely taken a forward step in 70 minutes, somehow discovered three goals in an eight-minute spell.
• As manager Guus Hiddink remarked: ‘Against a team at the top, that is impossible. It should not happen’.
• Hiddink seemed genuinely affronted by his team’s performance, perhaps the first time he has felt so indignant since taking over.
• He talked of Chelsea becoming ‘sloppy’, of ‘relaxing’ after their European heroics, when Ivanovic scored twice in their victory at Liverpool.
• Hiddink refused to blame individuals for the Bolton goals, but left little doubt that his goalkeeper, Petr Cech, will not enjoy a tranquil Easter weekend.
• ‘Chaotic’ was the least of it.
• Until those goals started to pour in, the Chelsea fans had treated the entire exercise as a kind of extended lap of honour after those improbable exploits at Anfield.
• They had sung tastelessly patronising little ditties about Liverpudlians: ‘Sign on, sign on . . . you’ll ne-ver get a job.’
• They had thumped their chests in advance of Tuesday’s return leg in the Champions League: ‘**** your history, we’re going to Rome’.
• In short, they had behaved as fans of the so-called Big Four clubs tend to do when things fall into place.
• Then, quite suddenly, they weren’t singing any more. The three Bolton goals had revealed unsuspected flaws in Chelsea’s defence.
• The substitutes, Andy O’Brien and Chris Basham, as well as Matt Taylor, had enthusiastically exploited those flaws and Chelsea must now try to repair their damaged confidence.
• It was wholly unexpected given Bolton’s approach. No matter that they had scored four against Middlesbrough last weekend, they set themselves to choke midfield, leaving Johan Elmander to toil unaided at the front.
• In truth, Chelsea’s overwhelming possession did not yield many early chances, but the longer it went, the more men Bolton pulled behind the ball.
• John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho watched with mild and distant interest from central defence, every clearance was instantly returned and the opening goal became more inevitable by the moment.
• Surprisingly, it was delayed until the 40th minute, when Danny Shittu’s clearing header was collected by Michael Ballack and played wide to Salomon Kalou.
• Ballack ran into the box for the return and put away the chance swiftly and tidily. With O’Brien on for Shittu in the second half, the roof seemed to fall in on Bolton.
• On 48 minutes, Jlloyd Samuel brought down Kalou on the right. Didier Drogba shaped to take the free-kick but continued his run into the box, whereupon Lampard pushed the ball low into the heart of the area and Drogba took the scoring touch.
• On the hour, Gretar Steinsson jabbed an arm at Lampard’s short cross and Lampard himself swept in the penalty.
• Three minutes later, Florent Malouda’s corner found the head of Ivanovic, who knocked it on for Drogba to take the decisive touch.
• Four goals up, Hiddink removed Drogba and Lampard and sent on Deco and Nicolas Anelka.
• Gary Megson made an apparently token substitution of Basham for Elmander. And strange things started to happen.
• On 70 minutes, a spasm of Bolton pressure saw nervous defending allow O’Brien a scrambled goal.
• Five minutes later, Steinsson fled down the right, his chip was knocked back by Kevin Davies and Basham took the chance with an unopposed lunge. Cech was nowhere, likewise his central defenders.
• They had little to do and were doing it unconvincingly. Another four minutes and the plot thickened.
• Jussi Jaaskelainen’s freekick was launched from deep. Davies touched it on and Taylor ran into ludicrously unmarked space for the scoring header.
• The ball had not touched the floor since leaving the keeper’s boot and it was 4-3! In the frenzy of the final minutes, Chelsea had chances to kill the game.
• But so did Bolton, most notably in the final minute of added time. ‘We’ll probably get more credit for losing 4-3 at Chelsea than we did last week for winning 4-1 against Boro,’ reflected Megson.
• For their part, the Chelsea fans were saying little. Their mood was quiet and fearful.
• On Tuesday evening, we shall learn if their apprehension was justified.
• CHELSEA (4-3-2-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Ballack, Mikel, Lampard (Deco 66min); Kalou, Malouda; Drogba (Anelka 66). Subs (not used): Hilario, Quaresma, Alex, Belletti, Mancienne.
• BOLTON (4-5-1): Jaaskelainen; Steinsson, Cahill, Shittu (A O’Brien 46), Samuel; Davies, Muamba, McCann, Gardner, Taylor; Elmander (Basham 66). Subs (not used): Habsi, Hunt, Smolarek, Puygrenier, Cohen.
• Referee: P Walton (Northamptonshire).