Chelsea suffer last-day heartache
by Nick Royle, 11 May 2008
Chelsea drew 1-1 with Bolton Wanderers, suffering final day heartache as they lost out on the Premier League title to Manchester United, who won 2-0 at Wigan.
Substitute Andriy Shevchenko scored a poachers’ goal on 62 minutes, after reacting first to a Frank Lampard cross-shot. However, Matt Taylor levelled for Bolton in injury-time when he reacted first to a poor Alex clearance from Kevin Davies' flick-on.
The Blues had captain John Terry stretchered off with a suspected dislocated elbow on 14 minutes, but the England man should be fit for the Champions League final.
Didier Drogba wasted a great early chance for Chelsea, as the Ivorian shinned a seventh-minute shot wide of the far post from a yard, after Michael Ballack’s great cross from the left flank across goal.
Juliano Belletti came on to replace Terry on 12 minutes, after the Chelsea captain got a Petr Cech boot in his face as he tried to prevent Davies getting to a high cross. Terry was stretchered off with arm and face injuries, and was taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated elbow. However, the injury is unlikely to rule him out of the Champions League final in Moscow on 21 May.
Then on 20 minutes, Drogba saw a free-kick drift just wide of Ali Al-Habsi’s right-hand post.
The news of Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty at The JJB Stadium quelled the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, and it had a knock-on effect on Chelsea’s play.
There followed a flat period for Avram Grant’s side, with Joe Cole’s speculative effort on 36 minutes from outside the area the only chance for a quarter of an hour.
Bolton, with safety guaranteed and the holiday apartments in Dubai already booked, may have been expected to be supine, but it says much for the integrity of the English game that they certainly seemed up for the encounter. Joey O’Brien and Gavin McCann both received first-half yellow cards from referee Chris Foy.
And, in order to prevent any internet chatter from fans in Stretford and Salford, Bolton manager Gary Megson, who had been troubled by the bright sunshine, took the wise decision to cover the Chelsea badge from the cap he borrowed from the opposition bench.
For no Fleet Street picture editor would have been able to resist the temptation to splash the image on the front page had Chelsea won the title!
Shevchenko came on for Claude Makelele at half-time, as Grant showed his attacking intent.
The message got through to his charges, for in the first minute of the second half, Florent Malouda turned Gary Cahill on the edge of the area and looped up a shot that Al-Habsi managed to turned onto the crossbar. Within 30 seconds, Belletti saw a shot blocked by Andy O’Brien, as the Blues made all the early running.
Drogba then had a great chance on the hour with a turn that took out Cahill 40 yards out, only to be denied at the end of his rampaging run by Al Habsi.
But Chelsea were not to be thwarted for long, and it was substitute Shevchenko who opened the scoring on 62 minutes.
The Ukrainian poked home a mishit shot from close range as he reacted first to a Lampard shot across goal, after the Bolton defence had charged down an initial Joe Cole effort.
Cech then pulled off a great stop at his near post to deny Diouf four minutes later, after the Senegal international had turned sharply in the box.
Chelsea put on the brakes to an extent from that moment, wary of the Bolton threat, but did show flashes. Joe Cole showed good strength on the edge of the box on 75 minutes to hold off Steinsson and unleash a shot, but Al-Habsi parried well.
Cole then was withdrawn for the defensive attributes of John Obi Mikel 11 minutes from time, as Grant looked to hold on to what he had.
But Ashley Cole then had to clear off the line a minute later, after Cech had failed to punch convincingly away a Bolton set-piece. Davies looped a header back into the danger area that hit the crossbar and then sub Stelios Giannakopoulos, but the England international was able to hack clear a ball that threatened to dribble over the line.
The body language suggested that Chelsea knew the game was over, and Taylor hit an equaliser in injury-time through the legs of Alex and Cech to complete an anti-climactic day for The Blues.