Bolton 1-5 Chelsea

Reports of Frank Lampard's demise in a Chelsea shirt look to be greatly exaggerated as the experienced midfielder claimed a hat-trick during the Blues' comfortable victory over bottom side Bolton Wanderers.Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge also claimed a double on his return to the Reebok Stadium as the Stamford Bridge side made their way into third place in the league table.Within two minutes the home side found themselves a goal down, as Sturridge, who had spent the second half of last season on loan at Bolton, got away from his marker and powered his header past the helpless Adam Bogdan and into the net.Sturridge then had a chance to put his side two goals ahead only a couple of minutes later, as the forward got the ball in the middle of the park, before striding forward and unleashing a shot that went just by Bogdan’s left hand post.Just before the quarter of an hour mark the Blues doubled their lead after a well worked passing move led to the ball finding Sturridge on the right hand side of the Bolton area, with the young forward finding the on-rushing Lampard, who coolly put the ball beyond Bogdan to add to the home side’s woes. The midfielder could have got his second of the day only a minute later as Didier Drogba found Lampard on the left side of the Bolton penalty box, but Bogdan finally clung onto the ball at the second attempt.Bolton eventually had their first chance of the first half midway through, as Martin Petrov drilled a corner from the left, which Lampard got his head on to clear before David N’Gog could get onto the ball.The visitors got their third goal as Sturridge once again got on the ball on the right wing, before going by Dedryck Boyata and drilling the ball towards the Bolton goal, and it looked like Bogdan would comfortably save the effort, but the ball squirmed out of the Hungary international’s arms and into the net.The game went from bad to worse for Owen Coyle’s side as they parted like the red sea in midfield, allowing David Luiz to stride forward, before unleashing a drive which Bogdan once again failed to deal with, palming the ball straight into the path of Lampard, who placed the ball home for Chelsea’s fourth of the game.After that goal the atmosphere inside the Reebok Stadium turned into that of a library, apart from the travelling band of Chelsea supporters behind Petr Cech’s goal who were in extremely buoyant mood watching their side take full control of the game.Andre Villas-Boas' side continued to press the game, looking to add to their goal difference, but they couldn’t find a way past Bogdan, with Mata going close from the left side, but his shot was comfortably saved by the Bolton keeper, leading to ironic cheers from the home support, but Chelsea were forced to settle for a four-goal lead going into the break.With many of the home support having decided to leave the ground during the half-time break, they missed their side get a goal back after only a minute of the half as Petrov floated a free kick from the left wing into the middle of the Chelsea penalty area, allowing Boyata to score from close in.Coyle’s side looked a completely different outfit than they did during the first half, going forward at will, with Chelsea looking to sit on their four goal lead and as such manager Villas-Boas decided to bring off Jose Bosingwa and replace him with the more defensively minded Branislav Ivanovic in the full-back position.Just before the hour mark Lampard claimed his hat-trick, after a long ball from Ashley Cole found Drogba, the striker then in turn played a series of passes with his midfield colleague, before the England international slotted the ball home, much to the delight of the travelling support behind the goal. That goal did not stop the home side from going forward in search of a goal to get them some way back into the game, with the industrious N’Gog being brought down on the edge of the area by Luiz, but unfortunately for Bolton, Petrov’s free kick was deflected away from goal and eventually ended with a goal kick after a misplaced shot by N’Gog.Chelsea continued to pile on the pressure, but not with the same kind of endeavour as they had during the first period, but there was no way for them to find a route to put the shaky looking Bogdan under any further pressure.The home fans looked further worried with just over a quarter of an hour left in the game as former Bolton favourite Nicolas Anelka made his way onto the pitch, replacing the impressive Mata and receiving a warm round of applause from those supporters.With 10 minutes left Bolton looked to have got one back as Petrov raced down the right wing to claim the ball, and then cut it back into the path of Kevin Davies, who smashed it towards the goal, but Ivanovic was on the line to clear, much to the frustration of the Trotters frontman, who believed the ball had crossed the line.Sturridge had the opportunity to join Lampard with a hat-trick as he received the ball inside the box after a superb cutback from Drogba, but the former Bolton loanee could not find a way past Bogdan to claim the treble.The ball then raced to the other end as Tuncay found fellow substitute Chris Eagles in space and as the former Burnley winger turned inside, he unleashed a strike that Cech had to stretch his full body in order to palm onto the post to maintain the four-goal advantage.And with the home fans streaming out in their droves, Chelsea started to relax even more as they claimed a comfortable victory to close the gap on the two Manchester sides at the top of the Premier League table.