United’s dreams of fourth successive title fading
LONDON, England (Reuters) – Chelsea closed on the Premier League title when a first-half header from Nicolas Anelka secured a gritty 1-0 win over a fiercely resilient Bolton Wanderers side yesterday. The victory took Carlo Ancelotti’s men to 77 points with four matches remaining, four clear of Manchester United whose hopes of an unprecedented fourth successive title are fading fast. Arsenal are six points behind Chelsea with one game in hand, against Tottenham Hotspur today.
Anelka struck against one of his former clubs with a point-blank header two minutes before halftime when he broke free of static defending to meet Didier Drogba’s teasing cross at Stamford Bridge.
Bolton, who have now lost five of their last six league matches without scoring, remained just five points clear of the relegation zone and are not yet safe from the drop.
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, whose side are chasing their first league and FA Cup double, went for an attacking lineup with Anelka and Drogba up front together for the first time in five matches.
Chelsea created the better chances on a balmy spring evening in west London, going close to taking the lead after 30 minutes when Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen parried a Drogba free kick straight to Salomon Kalou who diverted the ball just wide.

FIRED UP
Bolton, beaten 4-0 by Chelsea in the League and League Cup this season, appeared to be fired up by the words of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who had suggested the league leaders may be facing an easy game.
But it was anything but straightforward for Chelsea as Bolton fought for every ball and physically harassed the home side with Russian defender Yuri Zhirkov bearing the brunt of their aggression.
He needed a bandage after clashing heads with Bolton striker Davies, but played on with blood seeping from the wound until he was told by the referee to get cleaned up.
Chelsea’s Frank Lampard hit a post with a low drive after 79 minutes but a frenzied finish from both sides brought no more goals.