Bolton 0-4 Chelsea: Lifeless

Winless in five of their last six Premier League matches, the Wanderers would look to turn fortunes around at the Reebok. Bolton would try to make an impact on what was already an emotional night following the death of the greatest Wanderer ever, Nat Lofthouse.

Bolton came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, keeping the ball in the Chelsea half for the entirety of the first three minutes. The match settled down some before Didier Drogba made it 1-0 to the blues on a thundering effort from almost 25 yards out in the 11th minute.

Some poor defending right before the half led to the second Chelsea goal. Failed clearances led to the ball finding its way to Florent Malouda. The Frenchman tucked it in near post past Jussi Jaaskelainen from a tough angle. Proper defending from the Bolton side and it still would’ve been 1-0, instead it was 2.

Nicolas Anelka, the former Wanderer, added the final nail in the coffin in the 56th minute. The ball fell to him at the top of the box and he let rip. The shot may have taken a very slight deflection off of the foot of Stuart Holden but it looked like Jaaskelainen was beat the whole way. 3-0.

Finally, adding to the pain of the Bolton fans, Ramires decided that the match would be a great time to open his account. His powerful shot saw Jussi get a hand on it but it still ended up in the back of the net. 4-0 on the night and heartbreak for the BWFC faithful.

The Bolton attack looked lifeless throughout the entire night. The statistics say that the Whites got four shots on target. I only remember Matty Taylor’s header. When Rodrigo was introduced in the 63rd minute is when we get some of the momentum back. The Holden-Rodrigo tandem was actually pretty nice, you just wish that someone would have tested Cech.

Oh well. Onto the next one as Bolton face Wigan at the Reebok in the FA Cup on Saturday. It would be nice to remember how winning felt.