U21s: Bolton 0-5 Chelsea

Rob Hall, Mark Davies and David Ngog feature as Under 21s fall to defeat at the hands of their Chelsea counterparts

Wanderers' Under 21 side suffered only their second league defeat of the season on home soil with a 5-0 reverse at the hands of their Chelsea counterparts on Monday evening.

Having fallen behind to Lewis Baker's long range effort in the 18th minute, the Whites proceeded to concede again before the break with Isaiah Brown doubling the Blues tally.

A thorn in the Bolton defence throughout the clash, Brown then went on to find the back of the net twice more in the second half to complete his hat trick before John Swift's late strike ensured an impressive scoreline at the final whistle for the Stamford Bridge outfit.

Both sides showed their intent from the outset, with Islam Feruz going close for Chelsea while Zach Clough ensured that Jamal Blackman was on his guard as he broke into the area with just four minutes on the clock.

With the game well and truly underway, Baker looked to have broken the deadlock for Chelsea with a curling effort from just outside the area, but Arran Lee-Barrett was alert and parried the ball away for a corner.

It wasn’t to be until the 16th minute that Wanderers would enjoy their first clear cut chance as David Ngog found himself in on goal, but the Frenchman skewed his shot under pressure from Fankaty Dabo.

No sooner had the Whites enjoyed an opportunity to score however, the visitors proceeded to take the lead in some style as Baker curled the ball home from just outside the penalty area.

Having got their noses in front, Chelsea almost doubled their advantage just moments later as Feruz found himself in space, but the youngster proceeded to fire his effort into the side netting with the goal at his mercy.

As the half wore on it was mostly one way traffic from the Blues, and their dominance paid off with 32 minutes on the clock as Isaiah Brown rifled his shot from the edge of the box into the roof of the net to double their tally.

Having struggled to break down a resilient Chelsea defence, the Blues almost handed Bolton a way back into the clash in the 37th minute with Andreas Christensen headed the ball towards his own goal, but the defender was to have his blushes spared as his teammate cleared it off the line.

The opportunity seemed to bring Wanderers to life, with Clough, Cian Bolger and Rob Hall all going close to halving the deficit as the half time whistle drew near, but their efforts came to nothing.

As the second period got underway, Chelsea went onto enjoy the first chance of the half as Swift powered into the area and pulled the ball back for the advancing Blues’ strikeforce, but Bolger was on hand to clear the ball to safety.

That effort was to prove to be a warning to Bolton, with Brown doubling his tally in the 50th minute after breaking free of the Whites’ defence and calmly slotting the ball past Lee-Barrett. 

It was to get even worse for Wanderers just five minutes later as Brown found himself in space and was given the simple task of firing the ball past the despairing Bolton keeper to complete his hat trick and make it four for Chelsea.

Visibly stunned by the Blues’ quick-fire brace, Wanderers almost snatched a consolation through David Ngog as he unleashed a powerful shot, but the Chelsea keeper was on his guard to deny him from close range.

As the clock ran down, Feruz looked to have extended the visitors lead with a close range effort which Lee-Barrett pushed onto the post while Ngog went close yet again for Wanderers, but it was to be Swift who had the last word with a superb effort that gave Lee-Barrett no chance with effectively the last kick of the game.

Bolton: Lee-Barrett, White, Holding, Matthews, Bolger, Vela, Clough (Wilkinson, 69), Youngs, Ngog, Davies (Gregus, 60), Hall
Subs not used: Sutherland, Woodland, Lester

Chelsea: Blackman, Dabo (Loftus Cheek, 60), Davey (Dditi, 64), Christensen, Wright, Ake, Brown (Musonda, 71), Swift, Feruz, Baker, Boga
Subs not used: Beeney, Aina
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