Chelsea beats Bolton Wanderers 4-0 – Recap and Video Highlights – Saturday, October 31, 2009

Chelsea looked to keep their lead atop the English Premier League table as they traveled to face Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, October 31, 2009. Here’s a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Chelsea beats Bolton Wanderers 4-0 – Video Highlights

1st Half

Chelsea were the better team early but Bolton played solid to keep it scoreless through the first 20 minutes. The home side had chances and forced some key saves from Petr Cech. Neither team was able to score in the first 30 minutes but both continued to get chances. Chelsea had most of the possession (about 67-33 through half an hour) but failed to convert any chances at that point.

Bolton almost took the lead in the 32nd minute as Kevin Davies had a shot from the edge of the box but missed wide. It continued to remain scoreless and Bolton hung around with Chelsea unable to take a lead. Johan Elmander of Bolton had another great chance in the 42nd minute but missed a shot wide. The Chelsea defense did not have a great first half and lucky to not concede any goals.

Late in the first half, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba would earn a penalty as he was taken down in the box during stoppage time. Frank Lampard converted the penalty to make it 1-0 for Chelsea. Jlloyd Samuel took down Drogba who had only the goalkeeper to beat and would have likely scored. It was a red card for Samuel. The goal was a sigh of relief for Chelsea fans as Bolton were getting chances and gaining confidence the longer it remained 0-0. The first half ended at 1-0.

2nd Half

Despite playing a man down Bolton still took their chances in the second half. Chelsea almost put the match out of reach in the 57th minute as Frank Lampard had a shot that hit off the crossbar. As the match reach the final 30 minutes, Chelsea started to take control of the match. The Bolton players started to show fatigue that is inevitable playing a man down and having only about 30% of possession.

Chelsea would find the goal to put the match out of reach in the 61st minute. Anelka made a great run, passed it off to Deco who took a dribble and shot from inside the box to the left corner. It was great attacking from Chelsea and a letdown for Bolton. Bolton’s effort never dropped but they couldn’t find the back of the net. Chelsea would add another goal in the 82d minute as Ivanovic headed it into goal. It was now 3-0 and definitely sealed the win. The goal was later ruled as an own goal off Zat Knight. It was off a cross sent in and seemed to deflect off both players (Ivanovic and Knight).

Chelsea added one more on a terrific set of passing that ended with a finish from Drogba. It was fantastic play from Chelsea and poor defending from a deflated Bolton side.