GRAEME Souness gave his jittery defence the 'hairdrier' treatment after they had their pockets picked by football's answer to the artful dodger in a stunning climax to this five-goal thriller.

Chelsea hero Gianfranco Zola lapped up the plaudits after his sumptuous late strike condemned Rovers to a first home defeat since January 30.

But Souness was in no mood to acknowledge the quality of the impish Italian's match-winning effort as he conducted an inquest into a second straight defeat which did much to undermine his side's start to the season.

Ten days ago, Souness and his players had every right to feel aggrieved after they were sunk by a last minute goal from Middlesbrough striker Joseph Desire-Job at the end of a contest they had dominated from start to finish.

Last night, however, there could be no such excuses as Rovers twice tossed away the lead before finally succumbing to the ultimate sucker punch which put the seal on a shoddy second half performance.

There was an air of inevitably about what was to come next when Boudewijn Zenden's deep cross landed at the feet of Zola in the 80th minute.

Chelsea's pocket genius took one touch to tame the ball before then stepping inside to arrow an exquisite right-foot shot high into the far top corner.

It was a sight the delirious visiting fans have seen so often before but Rovers' sleepy defence had somehow failed to anticipate the danger, much to the annoyance of their irate manager.

"I'm sure people will write about how wonderful the winning goal was but from our point of view it was very disappointing," groaned Souness.

"When Gianfranco Zola has finished with football and goes back home to Italy to live, whenever his name is mentioned in the future, goals like he got tonight will be what he's remembered for.

"He's done it on so many other occasions, not just in this country but prior to him coming here.

"I knew what he was going to try and do from the touchline and I'm sure our defenders must have known that as well.

"So that's very disappointing because we've gifted them three goals tonight.

"Our football wasn't bad at times and we should have got something out of this game."

Those sentiments were shared by the hordes of frustrated home fans who filed into the September air wondering where it had all gone wrong.

For half an hour or so, everything appeared to be going swimmingly.

But then the defensive solidity which had seen Rovers chalk up two clean sheets from their two meetings with Chelsea last season suddenly went AWOL.

First, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink capitalised on hesitancy to set up a chance for Jesper Gronkjaer who promptly wiped out David Dunn's 18th minute opener from the penalty spot.

Then, Zola needed no second invitation to pounce on further slapstick defending by heading home his side's second equaliser, thus laying the foundations for his brilliant winner.

But Rovers' sloppiness at the back spread throughout the whole team like a cancer during an inept second half which was littered with scuffed clearances and misplaced passes.

Garry Flitcroft and Tugay -- who again flattered to deceive after being recalled in place of the injured Damien Duff -- struggled to stamp any authority in midfield.

And there was a lack of penetration from Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke up front, although the former Manchester United strike-pair could point to a distinct lack of quality service as the main reason for their ineffectiveness.

The one plus point was the performance of recent signing David Thompson who sparkled on his home debut.

The former Coventry midfielder may be small in stature but, to coin a favourite phrase of Brian Kidd's, he possesses a heart the size of a dustbin lid and he instantly won over the Blackburn End with a gritty display of passion and commitment.

One crunching tackle and cross in the first half, which served up a chance for Yorke, underlined what he is all about.

He will add craft as well as steel in the months ahead and, judging by the way he clinically dispatched his opening goal for the club, some extra fire-power, too.

But it was his quality at set-pieces -- in particular at corners -- which could add a whole new dimension to the side.

Nevertheless, he was powerless to prevent Chelsea from extending their unbeaten start to five games.

Rovers had made the brighter start with Thompson at the hub of the action.

They should have had a penalty when Marcel Desailly handled Flitcroft's fourth minute cross before Thompson forced Carlo Cudicini into the first meaningful save of the night with a shot from the left.

And he was instrumental again when Andy Cole fired wildly over the bar after Desailly seemingly blocked another effort with his hand.

The visitors respite was short-lived, however, as Celestine Babayaro then sent Lucas Neill crashing to the ground in the 17th minute.

The offence looked to have occurred outside the area but referee Mike Riley pointed to the spot and Dunn stepped up to nonchalantly dispatch the resulting penalty.

Chelsea could have been dead and buried minutes later when Thompson dispossessed Mario Stanic and crossed for Yorke but Cudicini pawed away the striker's point-blank effort.

That proved something of a turning point as the Blues got back on level terms seven minutes before the interval.

Hasselbaink outfoxed two defenders on the right before cutting the ball back for Gronkjaer who smashed an unstoppable shot past Brad Friedel into the far corner.

Rovers were undaunted, however, and they regained the lead on the stroke of half-time when Cole squared the ball for Thompson who drilled a 20 yarder which wrong-footed Cudicini.

That should have been Rovers' cue to take the game by the scruff of the neck after the break but instead the opposite happened.

Chelsea capitalised on slack defending to fashion a second equaliser in the 52nd minute.

Hasselbaink and Gronkjaer both missed chances to score before Stanic had all the time in the world to cross for the unmarked Zola to power home a header.

Suddenly, Rovers disintegrated in a whirl of misplaced passes and a Chelsea winner seemed inevitable.

It duly arrived with 10 minutes left when Zenden picked out Zola with a deep cross and the little Italian did what he does best with one swish of his radar-like right boot.

ROVERS 2

Dunn (p) 18, Thompson 45

CHELSEA 3

Gronkjaer 38, Zola 52, 80

Attendance: 22999