The Reebok Stadium was the dish bowl for some brutally burnt Bolton curry served meticulously by the Pensioners from London. Head chef Frank Lampard’s celebration with three fingers up towards the Chelsea faithful after tossing his third goal into the net, setup the ‘tadka‘ finish for the blues. It was the return of assistant chef Daniel Sturridge to a ground where he regained his form, respect and name last season, but only this time, he wore the royal blue jersey of Chelsea. The trotters showcased some hopeless defending and zonal marking, the scoreline reading 1-5 supporting their dismal performance. Being down by four goals within a span of 28 minutes certainly diminished their confidence.
Frank Lampard, Chelsea
The blues kicked off with their now usual 4-3-3 formation with a Ramires-Meireles-Lampard midfield force. It was Didier Drogba’s first Premier league start after receiving a horror blow against Norwich that knocked him cold on the floor. He was supported on both wings by Juan Mata and former Bolton loan-man Daniel Sturridge. After a string of matches on the substitutes’ bench, for both club and country, Frank Lampard was definitely the midfield marshal who stood out with some exquisite finishing, movement and eye-for-goal. His critics called on him to retire from international football as his “days were over” and be satisfied with a place on Andre Villas Boas’ bench as the youth-revolution was slowly creeping into the Chelsea squad. But ‘super Frank’ destroyed all his doubters with yet another hat-trick, and this time- no deflections, no penalties!
Daniel Sturridge sparkled right from his first touch and showed signs of being a dangerous winger as he danced down and up the wing with an all round performance. The gentleman within was released after his first headed goal, when he refused to celebrate in front of the Bolton fans, from whom he drew so much motivation and inspiration last season. The trotters defending was laughable and lacked spirit. For example, David Luiz (in defence, remember) was allowed to run freely all the way from inside his half till Bolton’s box without being tackled or even stopped with seven wanderers waiting for him in the box, quite comically!
His eventual shot led to some hapless goalkeeping by the young Bogdan and Frank Lampard finishing off clinically for yet another goal for the blues. The Wanderers allowed the pensioners too much room with Petr Cech’s goal kicks being easily taken and spread for attack without any resistance from the midfield. Raul Meireles and super Frank kept interchanging positions whenever the other was tired to go forward and attack. It was another set-piece howler from Chelsea to gift the Wanderers a consolation goal, bringing back haunting memories of set-piece defending from the blockbuster clash at Old Trafford last month.
Overall it was a dominant and destructive Chelsea outing with Daniel Sturridge and Lampard standing out as clear winners for man-of-the-match performances. The former West Ham midfielder’s hat-trick was watched by his ever-supportive father who accompanies him in every game. It is another boring international week now, with no club matches taking place, which gives AVB the time to relax and pray that none of his warriors get injured on national duty.
Tags: Bolton Wanderers, Daniel Sturridge, EPL, Frank Lampard, Premier League, Reebok Stadium
