|
Matt Taylor scored a last minute equaliser as Bolton earned a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Substitute Andriy Shevchenko gave the hosts the lead just after the hour, but Bolton defender well and walked away with a deserved point to preserve their Premier League status. Bolton manager Gary Megson made the strange decision of starting the game with two goalkeepers on the bench, with Jussi Jaaskelainen partnering Ian Walker in the dugout, with Ali Al-Habsi starting in goal. The game started on a quiet note but the hosts should have taken the lead inside seven minutes, but Didier Drogba fired wide from six yards after good work from Michael Ballack. But the game took a sour note just a couple of minutes later, as Chelsea captain John Terry was stretchered off the field. Competing in an aerial battle with Kevin Davies, Terry collided with goalkeeper Petr Cech near the edge of his own area, leaving the Chelsea skipper floored clutching his arm. Terry was sent straight to hospital where it was confirmed he had dislocated his elbow and he was replaced by Juliano Belletti. The injury seemed to halt any momentum the hosts were building and Bolton reminded everybody that there were two sides on the field as Taylor fired just wide from 30-yards. Then the Chelsea supporters were silenced as news of Manchester United taking the lead at Wigan filtered through to the stands. Gavin McCann was then booked for a challenge on Ashley Cole, but television replays showed the tackle was a fair one and McCann was unfortunate to be cautioned by referee Chris Foy. From the resulting free-kick, Drogba almost put his side in front but his superb strike was just wide of goal. Frank Lampard had a similar chance moments later but he shot straight at the Bolton wall. Chelsea Player of the Season Joe Cole broke free of the Bolton defence before the break but his cross was poor, as the home fans grew increasingly frustrated. Lampard also broke free moments later before Al-Habsi easily collected a cross from Joe Cole and the hosts looked to be running out of ideas as the first half came to an end. Wary his side were in need of goals, Chelsea coach Avram Grant went 4-4-2 after the interval, with Shevchenko replacing Claude Makelele. The hosts came out strong and almost took the lead inside 60 seconds of the restart. French international Florent Malouda got a sight of goal and his shot looped up off Gary Cahill before being tipped onto the bar by a full stretch Al-Habsi. Malouda tried his luck again seconds later but his shot was easily cleared to safety by a resolute Bolton defence. Joe Cole saw an effort deflected out for a corner before Ballack found the upper tier of the Wanderers supporters with a poor strike from distance. Fed up of seeing his side miss so many chances, Drogba went alone just before the hour but after beating three Wanderers defenders saw his shot turned over by Al-Habsi. This began a succession of three straight corners for Chelsea from which they finally broke down the Bolton backline and opened the scoring. Bolton failed to clear a corner and after the ball was turned back into the goalmouth, Shevchenko was on hand to tap home from six yards, much to the relief of the home fans. However, with United still winning at Wigan, the Blues would miss out on the title on goal difference. In what is expected to be his final appearance for the club, El-Hadji Diouf forced Cech into a fine save a couple of minutes later as Bolton looked for an equaliser. Al-Habsi had to punch Joe Cole's shot away with 15 minutes remaining and Chelsea were almost punished at the other end straight away. Again, Cech found himself coming for a ball which he was never favourite to reach, the ball bounced kindly for Taylor who headed goalwards, but it came back off the crossbar before Ashley Cole cleared Stelios' rebound off the line. Then news of a second Manchester United goal filtered through, meaning Chelsea's title dream was all but over. But their day got worse when Bolton levelled deep into injury time. After Davies flicked on Gretar Steinsson's long throw, Alex's clearance was poor and Taylor fired low and hard through the legs of both Alex and Cech to give Bolton a hard earned point. The full time whistle sounded seconds after the restart and Bolton were left to celebrate Premier League survival while Chelsea were left to rue what might have been. Bolton ended the season unbeaten in five and will be looking to take that into the start of the next campaign, knowing they will be playing amongst the elite for the eighth season in succession. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||