Chelsea's second-half wobble infuriates Hiddink

Chelsea 4 Bolton Wanderers 3

Anticipation and timing are the key components for a defender. Just a shame John Terry chose Saturday's match programme to guide us through the "tactics, organisation and understanding of the modern-day central defensive partnership". He hardly anticipated Chelsea's defensive collapse under intense Bolton pressure in the latter stages of Saturday's absorbing game.

Chelsea had not conceded three times at the Bridge since Leicester lost by the same margin in the Carling Cup in October 2007. Yet, four up and strolling, Guus Hiddink's team almost kissed goodbye to their lingering title hopes as Bolton chased a dramatic recovery, only to come up just short.

Just as Chelsea had made light of a one-goal deficit at Anfield in last week's Champions League triumph by utilising Branislav Ivanovic's aerial powers, so Bolton bombarded the erratic Petr Cech's area to cause Terry and company no little difficulty.

Hiddink, rightly lauded for his tactical acumen after defeating Liverpool, shifted around uncomfortably in his seat as Bolton strove to mock his reputation, with three goals in eight minutes by Andy O'Brien, Chris Basham and Matthew Taylor.

Was he angry? "Yes, you get very angry," Hiddink said. "If you concede a goal because you are outplayed or outpaced you get angry at the time as well, but when you calm down you accept it is football and you were outplayed. But when you outplay yourself, you simply cannot have this and that's why you get angry. Sometimes, though I didn't do it this time, I have thrown a cup of tea which was standing there in the locker room. Every now and then it happens. This time they knew without me having to tell them. They were very fed up with the situation."

Gary Megson was more likely to damage Chelsea's crockery given the way the game was heading after Michael Ballack's 40th-minute opener.

The German midfielder exchanged passes with Salomon Kalou before beating Jussi Jaaskelainen emphatically for his first Premier League goal of the season.

Didier Drogba neatly slotted home a Frank Lampard free-kick three minutes after the interval, Lampard converted a penalty after Gretar Steinsson had handled and Drogba doubled his personal tally from Florent Malouda's corner.

Almost half an hour remained and Chelsea, without the rested Michael Essien and with Drogba and Lampard withdrawn from the fray, looked to put Liverpool in the shade again, their 4-0 win over Blackburn already secured.

Bolton saw things differently, though, and the energy of Basham in midfield revived them. They went direct, Kevin Davies won everything in the air and Cech's nerves were shredded as three scrappy goals nearly became four when Gary Cahill's last-ditch effort was deflected wide.

Davies, like his manager Megson, singled out Basham for praise and added: "They always expect a difficult game from us and they got that today – I think they got away with it a little bit. You'd expect a team like Chelsea to shut up shop really at 4-0. We just had a go, we had nothing to lose. With 25 minutes to go it could have been any score, but it was one of those days today." One of those days when you were glad to be there.

Goals: Ballack (40) 1-0; Drogba (48) 2-0; Lampard pen (60) 3-0; Drogba (63) 4-0; A O'Brien (70) 4-1; Basham (74) 4-2; Taylor (78) 4-3.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Ballack, Mikel; Kalou, Lampard (Deco, 66), Malouda; Drogba (Anelka, 66). Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Quaresma, Alex, Belletti, Mancienne.

Bolton Wanderers (4-5-1): Jaaskelainen; Steinsson, Cahill, Shittu (A O'Brien, 46), Samuel; Muamba, McCann (Cohen, 83), Gardner, Taylor, Davies; Elmander (Basham, 66). Substitutes not used: Al Habsi (gk), Hunt, Smolarek, Puygrenier.

Referee: P Walton (Northamptonshire).

Man of the match: Lampard.

Attendance: 41,096.