Chelsea v Bolton Wanderers - as it happened

Hello and welcome to live coverage of a match that may well put the final delicately hatched scribble on the Premier League title picture. If Chelsea win, that's pretty much it you'd think. Here are the teams: Chelsea Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Alex, Terry, Zhirkov, Ballack, Mikel, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, Anelka. Bolton Jaaskelainen, Ricketts, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Muamba, Lee, Taylor, Wilshere, Steinsson, Kevin Davies. So, Drogba and Anelka start up front together, Anelka against - weirdly as it now seems - his old club. And Chelsea seem to have put out their tallest, toughest team for this one. Has nobody told Carlo? This is the new Bolton. As Alan Curbishley has just said "there's no gimmes in this Premier League", so maybe it's not such a sure thing as it might seem. Chelsea will surely take a vital step tonight. I have to say, it's a weird kind of title win, if it comes. This is an aging relic of a team. They have great team sprit. They've found a capable manager. No one else has looked very convincing. So Chelsea win the league. Their previous two Premier League titles were inspiring. They had a kind of narrative to them. This one already looks a little odd. Or is that just me? It is also a chance to watch Lee and Wilshere playing for the visitors tonight. Wilshere already looks a better player than Theo Walcott. I wonder what he thinks about the way Joe Cole's career has gone. Cole was, after all, Wilshere before Wilshere was Wilshere. Cole is on the bench for Chelsea tonight. Peter Corway notes a propos of something other than tonight's game: "You're alive. I made a request to get you back on FW as it has been way too long Ronay. Sean Ingle discussed the days and hours you work bizarrely. You've got an easy schedule Barney." Ha. Great start and thanks for that Seani. NB My schedule is hard. Very hard. True though, I haven't been around for FW for quite a while. And that's not only because it's the best method yet discovered of getting random strangers to call you a "t***"" or a "****t**" or even a "**sl*do***". I love all that banter. On the title Gareth Holden is still hopeful/deluding himself: "I agree that the league is a weird one this year, not so much the best team wins as who can be slightly more bothered to win it. I still think Arsenal have a chance, the script is there; Van Persie to score the winner against Spurs, Chelsea to lose unexpectedly (which they have done a few times this year) and the last game of the season deciding all a la Arsenal v Liverpool in 89." Incidentally the news today is that Nicolas Anelka is "unhappy". But... how would you know? Has he only lately stopped continually smiling and larking? Ray Wilkins has just said: "We find ourselves in a very pleasant position..." Get him. Andy McCracken wants to damn the excellent Lee with diluted praise: "Given that last season he was playing in the abysmal (and I've seen it in action) K-League, shouldn't Lee be receiving more praise than he has been? Or is the decline of the Prem so dramatic that it is now on a par with East Asia's 2nd best league?" I dunno. Maybe he's just good. 1 min Chelsea kick off and pootle it about among themselves for an entire minute before Wilshere finally robs Mikel, briefly. They're going to have a lot of the ball tonight. 3 mins Kalou grooves through the middle convincingly but then plays a misplaced pass when he might have put Drogba in. Steinsson then puts in an early reducer on Anelka, who has the first shot a few moments later. It's wide. He's starting on the left by the way. And Wilshere is playing "off" the front for Bolton. 4 mins Lee has a bit of a go down the right for Bolton but can;t get past Zhirkov. Basically unless I say otherwise Chelsea are shuttling it about in midfield looking unflustered while Bolton snarl behind the ball. 6 mins Wilshere bundles over John Terry! Tenacious stuff from the will o' the wisp playmaker. Then Zirkhov cuts in smoothly from the left and plays in Drogba who shoots over. Decent-ish chance wafted over the bar. 7 mins Cahill, who is an excellent defender, misses a straight ball from Alex, but Drogba can only shoot at Jaaskelainen. It was offside, but still. 9 mins Terry is getting some treatment on his ankle after blocking a shot from Taylor. He walks off in some pain and will be on again no doubt. He looks creaky though. And sluggish. Or more so than usual. 11 mins Bouma is warming up. Yes, Bouma. He's an 18-year-old Dutchman and potential Terry replacement. Zirkhov puts in another decent cross but Drogba this time heads it miles up in the air and then looks as though he's about to pass out from the impact. He will, though, probably be all right. 13 mins Nice hustling by Bolton in midfield. they're doing a decent job of breaking things up in there. Not much else, but it's a start. Wilshere dribbles beautifully past Drogba and is hacked down. He is a joy to watch when he has a go. 15 mins Good chance for Bolton as Lee puts in a lovely low cross and Cech fumbles under Taylor's challenge, but then gets back to gather his shot from a narrow angle.Now Carlo Ancelotti is standing up in his bus driver's coat looking perplexed. Bolton are in the game. 18 mins First corner of the game to Bolton as Lee has a shot that Terry deflects over. And Michael Aston has been feeling his gut: "Gut feeling on this game..Chelsea to come undone....It's due..." 19 mins The corner is cleared but then played back in long to Ricketts, but his cross ends up in a violent assault on Zirkhov by Davies that leaves both players down, the Russian bleeding heavily. And Dave Abergel believes, like Lenny Kravitz, that it ain;t over til, well: "I'd like to remind you that Chelsea still have to go to Anfield fortheir penultimate fixture. Given how the Scousers always seem to raise their game for that fixture, the league is not over until at least then. Add Chelsea's fragility into the mix (one key injury could leave them looking really bad) and the title race is still wide open." 21 mins Zirkhov has had a huge white bandage put around his head. He's up and on his feet. Very brave. And Robin Hazelhurst objects: "I like the way you come across as an omnipotent controlling force for the game, a real Mr Big type. "Basically unless I say otherwise Chelsea are shuttling it about in midfield". At what point do you intend to permit a goal? If the shuttling gives you a sense of ennui enough that you need a temporary amusement? I'm in awe." It's called "describing something". It's complicated, but this is different to "controlling" it. 23 mins Chelsea have continued to look a bit edgy after that stoppage. This is not going to be easy. Bolton are really at it. And Elliot Carr-Barnsley, whose great-grandfather perhaps had the only car in Barnsley, has a revelation: "I discovered the other day while rewatching series 3 of Lost that the man chosen to do spinal surgery instead of a clearly incapable Jack, still suffering from what turned out to be island withdrawal, was called Gary Naylor. I wonder if he provided stitch by stitch updates." 25 mins Great opening for Chelsea. Lampards fires in a free kick from the left hand side of the area, Jaaskelainen punches it away and it hits Kalou in the face unmarked five yards out, but bounces wide off his nose. That really should have gone in, but not his fault. Then Chelsea win their first corner. Terry tries a fancy twisting volley that goes wrong. 27 mins More convincing pressure from Bolton as Taylor's long free kick is nodded back into space in the area by Davies, but Wilshere can't get to it. They do look dangerous when they get the ball. And spooky football-related news from Dirk Tergart: "Thought I should let you know that today, in the gift shop of an old castle, I saw two souvenir keyrings consecutively placed on the display rack spell the name of footballer 'Curtis Davies.' I almost had a conniption fit. It being the gift shop of an old castle, they were heraldic surname keyrings, complete with escutcheons of the 'Curtis' and 'Davies' clans." Brrrrrr... 29 mins Zhirkov has gore dripping from his bandage. It is gruesome. 30 mins More Chelsea possession but they aren;t getting in behind Bolton on the wings, and Ballack is close to invisible at the moment. Robert Wade wonders: "Maybe Terry reinjured his ankle from his slide through Milner's leg over the weekend." He does look better now. 31 mins Chelsea corner but it comes to nothing as the vast and gangling Knight rises to head away. All is quiet again. And Aidan Gibson says: "Yes, young Jack is better than Walcott, but they're different players. Wilshere doesn't have Walcott's pace, and looks to be more of a Cesc esque type player, or as Arsene Wenger keeps saying, a Dennis Bergkamp type." By "Cesc-type" you mean "actually knows how to play football". Unlike, say, the Walcoot type (who always seems hopeful and keen, but also fundamentally confused as to what, exactly, is going on). 34 mins Incisive work from Kalou in the hole behind Drogba, setting up Anelka on the left, but his deep cross is headed away. that was better from Chelsea. Anelka then stays on the left and puts in a hard low cross that Drogba lunges at but misses. And Hugh Runyan has been reading books: "If international money is destroying football, a European league is the best solution. Most people in countries with only a few consistently good teams--Spain being the most obvious, but England has some of the same--have a hometown team and a favorite among the top contenders. Take those top teams out, and the domestic leagues can go back to being just that, domestic..." Sorry there is more. But, you know... 37 mins Chelsea free kick 30 yards out on the left. Drogba runs up quite slowly and then does a kind of rustic side foot hoof that flies well wide. That looked pretty bad. And Zhirkov's gore is still seeping out horribly. He really should go off and get it seen to. 39 mins have to say Knight and Cahill are looking good. sometimes Drogba looks a bit nonplussed when he can't bully a centre back. Zirkhov has gone off to have his wounds dressed and Bolton are attacking down the left, where Lampard is playing full back. Jonathan McAteer wonders:"Do you think Terry is jealous of Zhirkov's cut?" Yes. I do. Deep down he is. He wants a hero-bandage. 42 mins Chelsea sweep forward nicely from right to left, Anelka firing in a low cross that's cut out by Cahill. Zirkhov is back on without his hero-bandage. 43 mins CHELSEA SCORE!!!! some neat approach play from the languid Ballack, plays the ball out to Drogba on the left and his pinpoint curling cross is headed home by Anelka , who frankly couldn't miss. Not much celebration from the ex-Trotter there. 45 mins Chelsea briefly rampant here: Kalou robs Taylor and shoots powerfully just past the top corner. Suddenly they're romping about like cosseted schoolboys. A bit misleading after a half of toil, but you can;t deny the quality of Drogba's cross and the finish. 45+3 mins Terry seems all right by the way. His ankle-knack appears to to have evaporated. And Bolton look suddenly a bit depressed. 45+4 mins HALF TIME . Not a surprising scoreline, but a slightly surprising balance of play as Bolton looked very compact for 40 minutes and Chelsea a little fretful. Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see them score more now. I'm off for a cup of grey, stinking hot liquid from the machine. Back in a few minutes. Kwame cinquez is weak-kneed with Drog-love: "His performances are consistently of the match-deciding variety. His cross was simply outstanding. For me, when you consider his trip to the Africa Cup of Nations, he is undoubtedly the Premiership player of the season." He does have very lank and greasy flailing hair though. Imagine marking him. Kim Belov may have spotted of all things an error: "A minute-by-minute on a Russian site (sports.ru, to be exact) states it was Zhirkov, not Ballack, who passed down to the left to Drogba who then passed to Anelka. Was it you who mistake Zhirkov for Ballack or was it our compatriots who wished Zhirkov to participate in the scoring sequence? Would love this to be cleared out!" Yeah, it was them. Actually, just seen a replay, and it was Zirkhov. Far too sprightly in any case to be Ballack. What was I thinking? Peter Corway notes: "To be fair to Chelsea (did I really just type that?!), they start a lot of games with 10 men. I mean, I see Michael Ballack's name in the starting eleven but....... I'm beginning to think his transfer to Chelsea was a myth." He did definitely do that shouty, jostling run after the ref that one time in the Champions League. He should do that kind of thing more often. Word is Owen Coyle will bring on Elmander for the second half. I like Coyle. He seems quite nice. And he is also the only Premier League manager named after a form of contraception - perhaps ever. 46 mins Bolton kick off again . Apparently Coyle thinks Bolton should have had a penalty from a Drogba handball in the first half. 46 mins And blimey he's dead right - just seen the replay finally and he clawed it away from Davies with his great scrabbling hand as he was about to head it. That was blatant handball. 47 mins Free kick to Bolton after a foul from Terry 30 yards out. Taylor steps up thoughtfully and scuffs it into the bottom of the wall. Jason Graff is coming out pro-Ballack: "I would like to point out Ballack's cross to Kalou that sealed the Cup Semi was a thing of unalloyed perfection. Though, I believe Marty O'Neill complained after the game about it being a typical German cross." 49 mins The excellent Zirkhov continues to maraud down the left and wins a corner that Bolton scuffle clear. And Dan in Toronto has, quite rightly, had enough: "I've no sympathy any more re: the horrible contents of the food and drink vending machines ALL of you MBM-ers complain about it. Never heard of the lunch box? Tea Thermos? The brown paper bag, full of neatly wrapped nutritious sandwiches? The hip flask, shurely?" Drogba makes a yard of space for himself and plants a shot in the upper tier of the Matthew Harding stand. His shooting has been terrible tonight (so far). 51 mins Steinsson's long throw is headed on by Davies, who has had a decent game. and claimed by Cech who rushes out to the edge of his area looking alert and then does nothing much, in the modern style. Adam Timmins sees another side to Owen Coyle: "If Coyle was such a nice guy he'd have seen out the season at Burnley, instead of running off to join a club who, whatever he or anybody else says, aren't a bigger club at all. Bolton could have Messi, Ronaldo and Kaka in the team and they still only draw an average of 12,000 fans." 53 mins Bolton are still battling hard. And the shaven headed Joe Cole is warming up, to huge cheers. David Wall points out: "Perhaps he wasn't named after contraception, but Gullit had experience as a Dutch cap." 54 mins Jaaskelainen makes a brilliant save rushing out to the feet of Kalou as he steamed through the middle all on his own. Deflected wide off his spread foot, but Kalou still really should have scored. Incidentally Gullit also means "spermicidal absorbent sponge" in mediaeval Dutch. 56 mins Chelsea are in charge of this game now. They have had the ball for about five minutes now. Norrie Hernon is here all week: "'Typical German cross,' says Jason Graff. Was it Iron?" Meanwhile Kevin Davies body checks Alex to the ground in thrilling fashion, and then Taylor makes a brilliantly timed tackle on Ferreira in the area as the Portuguese rumbled in on goal. Spectacular defending, that. 59 mins Lee twists and turns past Alex but Ballack dispossesses him after waking up briefly and deciding it's time to get in the MBM. Taylor then sprints to the left corner flag and puts over a decent cross but there's no one there. Rob Boon asks: "Does Sam Allardyce's face count as a Premier League managerial form of contraception?" Only if you tie it tightly round with some string. 62 mins And blimey Bolton might have just missed out on another penalty there, as John Terry seemed to block a cross with his upper arm. Could have been his chest, as the linesman seems to be saying. Dominic Hart offers: "Pill Scolari, ermm ... Johnny Gregory..." 64 mins Thrilling run down the left into the Bolton box by Zirkhov ends with a really powerful shot that Jaaskelainen beats away. the Russian has been the best player on the pitch tonight. And Qasa Alom asks: "I'd like to ask you and fellow MBM legends, what the general thoughts on Mikel are? I might be wrong, but didnt S.A.F and Mourinho battle it out for this attacking tricky Nigerian skillfull winger called Mikel? Why do we have this tepid generic not-quite-dynamic-enough-to-be-Essien, not-quite-creative-enough to be a Xavi/Pirlo/Carrick style deep lying playmaker, not-quite-defensive-enough-to-be-Makelele ish centre mid instead?" Sorry, you lost me at "legends". 66 mins Anelka off. Malouda on. And Richard Armitage has dug very deep: ""Gullit had experience as a Dutch cap". Yes, and Fabien Barthez was a French Letter-in of goals!" 68 mins Bolton have had a bit more pressure here without creating any real chances. It might be a touch and go last few minutes if it stays 1-0. And Justin Kavanagh is furious: "Let's hope that Arsenal win the league. For all Wenger's faults (myopia and moaning among them), who wants Ancelotti's shower of aging love rats, leery louts, and big-mouths as champions of England?" Crickey. 70 mins Bolton free kick swung into the box by Steinsson, Drogba heads it meatily away, but back in from Taylor and Alex slices it over the bar for a corner. Chelsea eventually clear after a great deal of hoofing and swishing and jostling. And Daniel Tunnard offers: "Have you ever tried to get laid by singing "My Lumps" by the Black Eyed Peas to a lady, while doing a provocative dance? This is a form of Premier manager contraception called the Fergie." 73 mins Ferrieria put sin a deep cross from the right, Malouda knocks it down and Lampard basically tries to punch it into the net. He hasn't had a shot tonight. not even a rubbish scuffed, deflected one. And Nicholas Kruseman wins a prize for this frankly horrible piece of work: "He may not use condoms, but at least Tony Pulis out." I'm so, so sorry. 75 mins Kalou gallops off down the right wing on to Alex's long punt and gets in a shot on the run that Jaaskelainen smothers. then Drogba gets free of Taylor and puts in a low cross that is also flomped down upon by the Icelandic stopper/Indie-bass player type. Nathan Smith offers: "You could always try the Wenger as a means of contraception – lots of pretty foreplay without ever getting into the box. Never fails." And Kevin Davies is booked for a horrible lunge from behind on to the ankle of Mikel. Might have got a red for that. 79 mins Joe Cole, now on the pitch at last, sets up Lampard for a shot that smacks off the right hand post. Moments later he jinks to the by-line and puts in a cross that Ballack heads towards goal. Nice eager stuff from Cole. And Elmander is finally about to come on for Bolton. 81 mins Chelsea look much better with Malouda and Cole on. They seem very busy. Terry smashes a volley just past the post from a corner, the ball deflected away from goal by Muamba's knee. And Klasnic and Wlmander have come on for Lee and Wilshere. Get ready for some hoof. 84 mins Chelsea free kick about 30 yards out that Drogba makes a really big dela of strigin back from and staring into space for ages, before side-footing it right at Jaaskelainen. Then down the other end Robinson puts in a decent curling cross that Elkmander can only head weakly towards goal after getting above Terry. Good chance that. And Paul Fox is splitting hairs: "Isn't Jaaskelainen Finnish? Sure sounds it to me. I could be wrong, so maybe my presumption is a case of premature a la Jaaskelainen." 86 mins Another very good chance for Bolton derived from a long ball into the box. Klasnic scuffs a shot wide on the turn as the ball drops to him only loosely marked in the box. And Petr Fremont wants to know why they don't just play a bit more like Barcelona: "Barcelona have gotten plenty of plaudits in the last week, but their approach has the benefit of giving them the opportunity to attack. Bolton scarcely hold the ball with all the kick-aways from their back line. How are they going to score?" Yeah. Come on Fabrice Muamba. Be a bit more like Xavi. 89 mins Lovely skill from Cole, beating three men on the left wing and then ultimately scuffing a weak shot straight at the keeper. He looks very trim and very eager. You've got to hope he makes it to the World Cup really. 90+1 mins Still Cole doing his one-man band jinking attacks down the left. This time he cuts in and has a shot that flies well over. Bolton break and from a Ricketts long throw the ball breaks to Taylor who shoots well wide. Another chance though and Carlo still looks a little fretful. 90+3 mins Amazing miss by Cole! Zirkhov breaks again down the left and plays a nice low ball in. It's on a plate. But Cole decides instead to step on that plate, lose that plate beneath his feet and eventually falling over it. Under a bit of pressure, but really should have scored. 90+4 mins FULL TIME . Chelsea are four points clear at the top with four to play. A nervous-looking win but they deserved it in the end, although Bolton should have had a a penalty in the first half. And that's all from me. Thanks for all your emails and goodbye. Barney.