Fan's View by Peter Simmons
HAVING secured potentially the most crucial result of the season away at Leeds last weekend, Wanderers were hoping to keep that run going against a star-studded Chelsea side.
The first half saw a tentative opening by both sides, Bolton seemed to struggle with distribution from the back, whilst Chelsea seemed to be lacking in the final third.
A swift switch in formations and Wanderers were a lot more composed and began to dominate the rest of the half despite few clear cut openings.
Second half Wanderers came out fired up and on 62 minutes Henrik Pedersen scored his third of the season after a great corner from Youri Djorkaeff.
After Babayaro had been sent off, however, you felt that we just seemed to back off and back off until eventually Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink steered in a Zola cross to rescue a point for Chelsea at the death.
All in all the Wanderers faithful will feel deflated. Disappointed that having gone 1-0 up with an extra player, and outplaying our Premiership counterparts for larg sections, that again we have not taken all three points.
On reflection we would have taken a 1-1 draw at the start of play, especially when you take into account the amount of injuries that we have and the fact we were playing a full strength Chelsea team that had not conceded a goal in around nine hours of football.
There was a moment in the first-half when Ivan Campo looked to choose his through ball and had the option of World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff on the right or Nigerian world superstar Jay-Jay Okocha on the left - a few seasons ago that would have been a dream.
So a 1-1 draw at home to one of the best teams in the country, watching some of the best players in the world, does not seem all that bad!
Man of the Match: Youri Djorkaeff. Outstanding from start to finish, from a man whose first touch is world class, a performance of a world cup winner.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article