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On his old Bolton stamping ground 11 months after a £15million move, a diving header from Anelka gave the Blues an 11th consecutive away win in the league, with eight this season. Deco’s sumptuous scissor-kick 12 minutes later sealed the victory as Chelsea eclipsed the mark set 48 years ago by Bill Nicholson’s Tottenham side. With leaders Liverpool winning at Blackburn, the win keeps Chelsea hot on the heels of the Merseyside club at the top of the table. In fairness, the first half was all too easy for Chelsea once Anelka set them on their way. But shortly before that there was one a chance for Bolton that would undoubtedly have put a different complexion on the game. Despite Chelsea’s frightening away record coming into this game, and their dominance over Bolton as they have now won their last six at the Reebok Stadium without conceding a goal, the home side came into the match on a roll themselves with four wins in five games.

Robin van Persie put Arsenal back into the Premier League title race with a superb second-half double in a 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Van Persie struck twice in three minutes after the Blues had taken a first-half lead through a fortuitous Johan Djourou own goal. But while the Dutch striker’s second goal was sheer class, his equaliser was clearly scored from an offside position. Chelsea remain top on goal difference from Liverpool but the Merseysiders will replace them if they get at least a point from their home clash with West Ham on Monday night. The victory helped Arsenal to move back into the top four and cut the gap between them and Chelsea to seven points.