And while this time there was no trophy to hoist, Manchester United's failure to beat Sunderland on Friday meant Chelsea were on the brink of winning more silverware, the Londoners nine points clear with just four games to go.

Certainly, the way Chelsea strolled to a routine win against a Bolton side that have now lost five games in succession, spoke volumes about their dominance this season.

With the shock waves from the stunning goalless draw at Old Trafford still reverberating, this game suddenly became less of a challenge to Chelsea's title hopes and more of a stepping stone.

Having been virtually gifted the championship by United's unexpected slip, it was perhaps inevitable that Jose Mourinho's side would not be at their best and for the opening 44 minutes they looked a shadow of the side that has been so impressive for the past two seasons.

The west London side have in fact been below par for a number of weeks but once again even a poor Chelsea performance proved too much for a Bolton side who went into this game still harbouring hopes of a top six finish.

And once Terry and Didier Drogba appeared to simultaneously connect with Lampard's free-kick and divert the ball beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen there was never any doubt about the result.

Bolton had started brightly enough and could have taken the lead after 23 minutes when Ricardo Vaz Te and Jared Borgetti - both drafted in as Sam Allardyce attempted to freshen up his side - combined to open up the visitors' defence.

A neat exchange of passes sent Vaz Te clear and the young Portugese was unfortunate to see his left foot shot deflect to safety off the woodwork after beating Petr Cech.

Kevin Nolan, the Bolton captain, almost enhanced his claims for a place in England's World Cup squad when he sent a 20-yard snapshot narrowly wide but having briefly threatened to reignite the title race, Wanderers struggled to create a chance of note.

And having weathered the best of the home side's efforts, Chelsea found themselves ahead after Ivan Campo conceded an unnecessary free-kick, presenting Lampard with the opportunity to tee up Terry.

The timing of the goal was devastating for the home side and Chelsea suddenly found themselves able to cruise through the remainder of the game without breaking sweat.

And any remaining doubts about the final outcome disappeared in the 59th minute when Hernan Crespo cut in from the left-wing, picked out Lampard's run into the box and the England midfielder finished with ease before the last minute dismissal of Tal Ben Haim summed up Bolton's woes.