12/01/2002  Bolton 2 Chelsea 2
 
Chelsea have had a bad week off the pitch, but a gutsy 
performance here saw them earn a good away point at Bolton and 
nearly claim all three.

Their reward would have been even greater had it not been 
for Bolton's refusal to lie down, with the home side finally 
securing an equaliser through Kevin Nolan.

It was only right that honours should have ended even, 
because when Mikael Forssell grabbed the lead for the second 
time - Bolton old boy Eidur Gudjohnsen had opened the scoring 
- it looked as though Michael Ricketts' second-half strike 
would be meaningless.

Wanderers pressed hard, though, and Nolan's goal made it 
three draws in a row.

Chelsea have been in the headlines over the last week, 
though not for any of the reasons they would have wanted.

First there was the incident in a nightclub which left John 
Terry and Jody Morris both facing assault and affray charges. 
Then came crowd trouble at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night 
which saw missiles thrown at players and a fan stabbed outside 
the ground.

Those are weighty distractions indeed, but Chelsea managed 
to shrug them off. Terry and Morris were in the starting 
line-up and both played key roles for a team without injured 
leading scorer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

There was a worrying moment in the opening stages for 
Chelsea when Djibril Diawara headed on a long throw, and 
Ricketts was only inches from connecting.

If that was a fright there was sheer terror for Bolton 
after 16 minutes when Jussi Jaaskelainen flapped at Morris' 
cross and the ball fell to Frank Lampard just next to the 
penalty spot.

He seemed to hesitate a fraction of a second, and when he 
did strike a strong shot Jaaskelainen had closed the gap and 
pulled off an excellent save.

Gianfranco Zola, his touch looking as good as ever, 
swivelled and clipped a tempting pass towards Gudjohnsen. The 
ball had just enough pace to beat Gudni Bergsson's attempted 
interception, but when it dropped the Icelandic striker sliced 
his volley wide.

The game began to open up, and when Frank Lampard went down 
in the Bolton area challenging for Gudjohnsen's chipped pass 
the home fans' hearts were in mouths. But referee Jeff Winter, 
who was close to the incident, waved away appeals for a 
spot-kick.

Bolton have a policy of packing the opposition's six-yard 
box for free-kicks and corners, and when Per Frandsen swung a 
ball into the danger area Bruno N'Gotty connected but just 
poked the ball a foot past the post.

The Reebok crowd were on their feet after 52 minutes when 
Henrik Pedersen, the striker who had done virtually nothing in 
the first half, was clean through on the goalkeeper.

But his shot was sliced so horribly wide it fooled the 
referee into awarding a corner.

That miss proved costly. Mario Stanic angled in a ball from 
the right wing; N'Gotty failed to intercept, and Gudjohnsen 
struck a sweet shot in off the far post to put Chelsea 
ahead.

The goal served only to fire Bolton up, and Pedersen had a 
shot cleared off the line by Terry. Chelsea could not clear 
their lines completely, though, and when the ball broke to 
Ricketts from a scramble on the edge of the box he kept his 
head and equalised.

It was the coolest of finishes, ignoring Marcel Desailly's 
desperate lunge, slipping the ball past Carlo Cudicini and 
then steering it into the net.

'Ricketts for England' sang the Bolton fans. With 14 goals 
already this season - and 12 in the Barclaycard Premiership - 
why not?

Claudio Ranieri then played his master-stroke, replacing 
Zola with Forssell, and the substitute made it 2-1 with his 
first touch.

Graeme Le Saux hit a low ball from the left; Morris ran 
over it, and Forssell struck a left-footed shot which sneaked 
past Jaaskelainen for his first league goal this season.

Lampard should have done better when he pulled a shot 
wide.

But Bolton's equaliser came with 11 minutes remaining.

A long ball into the Chelsea area was headed out by Terry 
to the feet of Nolan. No one closed the midfielder down, 
however, and he had time to pick his spot and shoot low into 
the corner.

There was last-minute panic in Bolton's box after an 
incredible goalmouth scramble saw Terry's shot cleared off the 
line by Simon Charlton and Desailly's header narrow miss the 
target - but defeat would have been unfair on Wanderers.