DEADLY DUO HAND CHELSEA WIN
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen are showing signs of becoming the most complete centre forward pairing in The Premiership, and after Kevin Nolan had shocked the ground with an opener for Bolton after two minutes, the duo combined to hand each other goals before half-time.
The second half saw some of the glorious attacking football that Chelsea have sporadically shown this season, and brought lovely goals for Boudewijn Zenden and Frank Lampard - as well as a comical own goal from veteran Scot Colin Hendry - but the damage had been done in a five-minute spell at the end of the opening period.
A thrilling first half had been an illustration of the frustrating mix of Jekyll and Hyde that has blighted the sometimes wonderful Chelsea game.
Carlo Cudicini was swamped in plaudits for his recent performances, but had a half he would prefer to forget.
Yet, after struggling to play their game for much of a first half that had started with a Bolton goal inside two minutes from the head of teen sensation Nolan, The Blues came to life and put themselves back on top within the final five minutes.
Nolan's goal, for all of Cudicini's nerves can be attributed more to a blip of concentration from John Terry than to the goalkeeper.
With a corner only half cleared, the defence moved out as a unit, and also looked on as a unit whilst Per Frandsen curled a brilliant cross to the near post.
There, Terry, conscious of the fact other players had left Nolan all alone and his header across Cudicini was clinical.
For 38 minutes Bolton's confidence grew as they began to dominate the midfield and threaten with the pace of Michael Ricketts and Ricardo Gardner.
But, in a microcosm of their season, Bolton's wonderful start collapsed when the front pairing of former Wanderers favourite Gudjohnsen and Hasselbaink began to combine with ability and pace bordering on horrifying for the experienced opposing defence.
Blackburn boss Graeme Souness said earlier in the week that the big clubs have the best strikers, and two of those he must look at longingly are the Chelsea duo.
Gudjohnsen's skill and finishing ability combined with Hasselbaink's pace, power and deadly eye for goal simply over-ran Bolton - as it had overwhelmed the far more established defences of Manchester United and Liverpool in recent weeks.
The leveller was all about a quick break, with Hasselbaink showing his strength and composure to control a long pass turn back away from goal and feed his Icelandic partner.
With the ball rolling across him, Gudjohnsen showed all the technique of a former strike partner from his time at PSV Eindhoven and even Ronaldo would have been proud of the clinical finish into the bottom corner of the goal.
Suddenly the entire team, including Cudicini, looked more comfortable and when Gardner was the recipient of another inch-perfect Frandsen pass the keeper save smartly from an instant snap-shot.
The crowd buoyed by the action, Chelsea then took the lead - and it was the partnership from heaven that condemned Bolton to the sword.
Hasselbaink knocked down for Gudjohnsen, and as the Iceland international headed past the first defender and swerved neatly past the second, made a darting run that was picked out perfectly.
Hasselbaink rarely fails to convert when he is put through one-on-one and he blazed home left-footed into the top corner with Jussi Jaaskelainen beaten completely by the sheer power and accuracy.
The second half saw Bolton work hard without ever really believing they could shock their illustrious hosts, and the result was put out of question when Zenden ploughed through an ineffective Paul Warhurst tackle and cleverly lifted the bouncing ball over Jaaskelainen and into the top corner.
Cudicini, with the pressure lifted, watched a Nolan strike blaze over and saved spectacularly when substitute Dean Holdsworth's header looked bound for the corner.
But with 15 minutes remaining the fifth goal of the game arrived from Hendry - unfortunately in his own net.
Sam Dalla Bona, impressive throughout, raced to the touchline and pulled back for the waiting Gudjohnsen - but this time the striker was beaten to the punch by Hendry, who embarrassingly shinned the ball home.
Hasselbaink was then handed a glorious chance to double his own tally when Dalla Bona fed him a lovely through ball, but with the kind of time a striker rarely gets, he fluffed his effort wide.
But a fifth was inevitable, in coach Claudio Ranieri's 50th game in charge, and he will have been delighted that Frank Lampard was the man who provided lashing home with glee for his first Premiership goal in the blue of Chelsea.
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