So far this season, the ‘map of the mine’ against Chelsea has been to allow us as much possession as we want while keeping the lines high for as long as possible. This exact recipe saw Bournemouth have the better chances in attack, with Brazilian striker Evanilson making our defenders sweat a little.
When the hosts could no longer maintain the pressure, Chelsea were given more space up front. However, our midfield was not good enough in transition and Enzo Fernández was sorely missed in this task.
This forced players like Cole Palmer to drop back to get things going and when he wasn’t being pressed by the opposition he was responsible for most of our attacking brilliance. Jackson had two good chances to score but on the first occasion he was ruled offside and on the second his shot was saved by goalkeeper Mark Travers.
Bournemouth almost got what they wanted, however, when Robert Sánchez brought down Evanilson in the box. The penalty was awarded and the centre-forward made a really poor attempt, making our goalkeeper’s job a lot easier as he parried his shot from the danger area.
The second half saw Jadon Sancho in a Chelsea shirt for the first time as he replaced Pedro Neto on the left wing. He was an almost immediate improvement on his Portuguese counterpart, setting up a dangerous cross from Marc Cucurella that failed to reach a Chelsea player and setting up a shot from Nicolas Jackson that went too high into the box.
But once again it seemed as if Bournemouth were the better performers in their attacking moves, with Sánchez once again taking centre stage with his interventions.
Coach Enzo Maresca continued to make changes, trying to find a way to score the winning goal. Sancho had already proven himself and we just needed an extra push to get there. And with Nkunku, we did it, finally capitalising on several assists from the English winger.
Carefree!
- Two midfielders are out due to illness.
- Renato Veiga takes over the starting eleven position from Enzo Fernández.
- Six yellow cards in the first half.
- Really good performance from Jadon Sancho, who is doing everything he can to show that he can be an important part of the Chelsea team under Maresca.
- 14 yellow cards on the field + 2 on the touchline in 90 minutes – a Premier League record.
- Next up: West Ham away in the Premier League.
- KTBFFH!
PLAYER RATINGS:
