Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink grabbed two great goals in two minutes as Chelsea came back stylishly from conceding a goal in the opening 80 seconds to virtually clinch a place in the UEFA Cup.

But Stamford Bridge fans jeered manager Claudio Ranieri for taking off hero Gianfranco Zola eight minutes from the end when Chelsea's nerves were being shredded by Walter Smith's plucky Everton side.

The fans chanted "Vialli, Vialli" in testament to their sacked former boss as Ranieri committed his latest public relations blunder by removing Zola, who thrilled his adoring admirers by agreeing a new two-year deal earlier this week when all the odds had pointed to him leaving at the end of the season.

But the jeers soon turned to cheers again as the gifted 34-year-old Sardinian led a parade of his fellow players at the end of the last home game of the campaign.

Chelsea should have walked away with the points despite carelessly conceding a second-minute goal to Kevin Campbell's header.

Hasselbaink grabbed the plaudits with two wonder-strikes to finally put some sanity in the scoreline after Chelsea had dominated but Everton, who had been on the back-foot for nearly 70 minutes, suddenly discovered some late verve to almost wreck the party.

Hasselbaink made amends for some slapdash finishing early on with a lovely piece of work to equalise a minute past the half-hour mark - and then an even better finish to grab the lead less than two minutes later.

Gus Poyet's low, diagonal ball in from the left found him on the edge of the area where he cleverly turned Michael Ball and ran on to slot past Gerrard.

And before Everton could regroup, the Dutchman registered his 23rd goal of the season with a perfect chip over Paul Gerrard after a flowing passing move between Zola, Poyet and Eidur Gudjohnsen helped him undress the Merseysiders' defence.

Poyet almost added a third for rampant Chelsea when he headed just over from Zola's cross after another smart attack opened up Everton and the little Italian cleared the bar by inches with a cracking drive when David Unsworth only half-cleared.

The chances kept coming in the second half despite Everton manager Walter Smith's reshuffle which brought Gary Naysmith into midfield.

And Hasselbaink spurned two chances to put the points beyond doubt for Chelsea. It almost proved costly as Everton rediscovered the motivation to make a fight of it in the last 20 minutes.

Idan Tal, whose early corner had led to unmarked Campbell's headed goal after Steve Watson put the ball back into the goalmouth, extracted a fine save from Carlo Cudicini when he moved onto a lovely crossfield ball by Mark Pembridge.

And skipper David Weir, who had kept Everton in it with a headed clearance from under his own crossbar after substitute Jesper Gronkjaer hung up a teasing cross that sailed over Paul Gerrard, claimed a penalty when the Dutch striker appeared to push him down in the Chelsea area.

Then Tal was just wide with first a header and then a shot and it was too close for comfort in the end for Chelsea, whose nervous fans took out their anxiety on Ranieri.

Chelsea still need three points from their last two games to clinch the European place, but if they succeed it will still be a season of under-achievement for a side who remain capable of superb football but also prone to carelessness.

Teams:

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot, Le Saux, Desailly, Terry, Wise, Poyet (Babayaro 75), Morris, Hasselbaink, Zola (Jokanovic 84), Gudjohnsen (Gronkjaer 60).

Subs Not Used: de Goey, Dalla Bona.

Booked: Terry.

Goals: Hasselbaink 32, 35.

Everton: Gerrard, Steve Watson, Weir, Unsworth, Ball, Pembridge (McLeod 82), Campbell, Alexandersson (Naysmith 46), Gemmill, Moore (Jevons 70), Tal.

Subs Not Used: Simonsen, Hibbert.

Booked: Gemmill.

Goals: Campbell 3.

Att: 35,196

Ref: R Harris (Oxford).