Frank Lampard celebrated his return to the Chelsea's Premier League starting lineup by scoring a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium this afternoon.
The England international shared the Blues' goals with former Wanderer's loanee Daniel Sturridge, who started for Chelsea due to Fernando Torres' suspension.
It was Sturridge who opened the scoring with just 92 seconds played, heading in unmarked from Juan Mata's corner.
Lampard's first of the afternoon came with 15 minutes on the clock. The 33-year-old collected a square pass from Sturridge before guiding the ball beyond Adam Bogdan in goal.
The Wanderers keeper would then be at fault for Chelsea's next two goals before the break, with both Sturridge and Lampard profiting to claim their second goals of the game.
On-loan Dedryck Boyata momentarily restored hope for Wanderers after the break when he headed Martin Petrov's cross past Petr Cech in the 46th minute.
However, the four-goal winning margin was restored just before the hour mark when Lampard exchanged passes with Didier Drogba inside the area, before slotting into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
In response Kevin Davies had a close range effort cleared off the line by Branislav Ivanovic, while substitute Chris Eagles struck the post.
The defeat has seen Owen Coyle's Bolton slump to the bottom of the Premier League.
Liam Apicella
