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Chelsea’s run of six games without a Premier League win came to an end with a routine 2-0 victory at home to Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.
Graham Potter’s side played with a confidence and intensity that had been missing in their matches prior to the World Cup break, sweeping aside the Cherries with relative ease.
The hosts started brightly and beat the Bournemouth press on several occasions early doors. Marc Cucurella’s cross was headed over by a towering Kai Havertz for the game’s first half-chance.
Chelsea wanted a penalty when Christian Pulisic was tugged back by the panicking Adam Smith after pouncing on a loose ball and sprinting into the box, but their appeals were quickly dismissed.
The deadlock was broken after a quarter of an hour through Havertz. Jorginho and Mason Mount quickly shifted the ball through midfield before the latter picked out the run of Raheem Sterling, and his low cross was easily converted at the far post by the German forward.
Mount doubled Chelsea’s lead soon after. Denis Zakaria carried the ball into the penalty area before meeting a wall of Bournemouth defenders, and Havertz managed to poke the loose ball back for the Blues’ number 19 to fire round a host of bodies into the net.
Chelsea had the ball in the net for a third time at the end of a sweeping counter attack when Mount’s cross-field ball found Havertz, who collided with Smith and both fell to the floor, with Christian Pulisic slotting in from close range instead. However, the whistle had been blown as Havertz was deemed to have tripped Smith illegally.
James and Sterling forced Travers into instinctive saves at the back-end of a dominant first half for Potter’s men.
The hosts’ dominance continued after the break despite James having to come off with another knee injury. Zakaria came close to racking up a third but saw his strike from the edge of the area blocked.
While Bournemouth were beginning to pick the ball up in decent positions due to Chelsea’s slowly growing complacency, the Blues were still the side more likely to strike next, with Havertz dancing his way round the defence and firing into Travers’ side-netting on the hour mark.
A driving run from Mount right through the Bournemouth midfield eventually saw him let fly from 20 yards, but again Travers was on hand to deny Chelsea.
Kalidou Koulibaly’s header whistled past the post as Potter’s side looked to kill the game off once and for all.
Substitute Ryan Christie came close to pulling one back for the visitors in the latter stages of the game, but his shot from a tight angle was sat on by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Chelsea should have sealed the points once and for all when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang kicked off a counter attack with a clever ball over the top for Havertz to chase, but Conor Gallagher’s strike from the resulting pull-back was blocked by Lloyd Kelly.
Dominic Solanke headed one last cross wide as Bournemouth were condemned to defeat at the end of five minutes of stoppage time.
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga – 6/10 – Didn’t have a lot to do.
RB: Reece James – 7/10 – Worryingly brought off with injury early in the second half. Formed a great partnership with Sterling down the right in Chelsea’s first-half romp.
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly – 7/10 – His range of passing helped the Blues build from the back but he was also guilty of over-playing at times.
CB: Thiago Silva – 7/10 – Shook off an early knock and ate up Moore with ease.
LB: Marc Cucurella – 6/10 – Looked like a competent player, which is a step-up from his pre-World Cup performances.
CM: Jorginho – 6/10 – Swept up well and distributed the ball quickly to maintain Chelsea’s vertical threat.
CM: Denis Zakaria – 7/10 – Probably his best performance in a Chelsea shirt. Covered every blade of grass and ultimately proved useful in both boxes.
RM: Raheem Sterling – 8/10 – Enjoyed playing as both a touchline winger and inverted threat, working well in tandem with James.
AM: Mason Mount – 9/10 – Whether dropping deep, running in behind or into the channels, Mount showcased why he’s been a favourite of every manager he’s had at Chelsea
LM: Christian Pulisic – 7/10 – Unlucky not to have won a penalty in the first half. Bournemouth kept losing the run of the American but he wasn’t able to directly make them pay.
CF: Kai Havertz – 9/10 – A near-complete performance and one fitting of a natural number nine, dropping deep to link play but leading the line between the width of the goalposts all the same.
Substitutes
Cesar Azpilicueta (53′ for James) – 6/10
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (82′ for Pulisic) – N/A
Conor Gallagher (82′ for Zakaria) – N/A
Trevoh Chalobah (88′ for Sterling) – N/A
Manager
Graham Potter – 8/10 – This was one of Chelsea’s best performances all year, and it will give fans confidence that they can achieve something this season.
GK: Mark Travers – 6/10 – Kept the score down with some decent saves.
RB: Jack Stacey – 3/10 – Provided little support to Smith and was continually overrun. Hooked at the break.
CB: Adam Smith – 3/10 – Continually targeted and looked every bit of his 31 years of age.
CB: Marcos Senesi – 4/10 – Played with aggression but often to Bournemouth’s detriment.
CB: Lloyd Kelly – 4/10 – Similarly up for the fight but it wasn’t much use.
LB: Jordan Zemura – 4/10 – Roasted time and time again by James and Sterling. Showed some signs of life when going forward.
CM: Lewis Cook – 5/10 – Wriggled his way out of tight spaces on occasion but couldn’t control the midfield battle.
CM: Jefferson Lerma – 5/10 – Tried to match Zakaria’s box-to-box dominance but failed to win such a duel.
CM: Philip Billing – 4/10 – Didn’t provide enough of a threat anywhere on the pitch. Inexplicably on corners. He’s 6ft6.
CF: Dominic Solanke – 5/10 – Showed great energy and determination, but little in way of goal scoring threat.
CF: Kieffer Moore – 3/10 – Hard to believe he was the striker who had such a big impact in a game at the World Cup. Completely anonymous.
Substitutes
Jaidon Anthony (46′ for Stacey) – 5/10
Ryan Christie (66′ for Billing) – 5/10
Siriki Dembele (85′ for Moore) – N/A
Manager
Gary O’Neil – 4/10 – Bournemouth were completely outmatched, but considering the limited quality of their squad, it’s hard to put all the blame at the manager’s door.
