Match Report
Chelsea 2 v 0 Bournemouth
1 September 2018
Attendance: 40,178
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| Chelsea and Bournemouth lock horns. |
The Cherries came away ruing missed chances against Chelsea. On the day Chelsea were much the stringer side and dominated the ball. Yet, there were chances for Bournemouth, like the first half run at goal from Callum Wilson that came off his knee and a close call when Nathan Aké came close from a corner in the second half. Bournemouth didn't look as potent in attack without Brooks and Chelsea eventually found a way to beat Begovic. They had come close with Alonso's drive that his the post at the end of the first half, but when chief tormentor Willian gave way to Pedro, the small striker snapped a shot past Begovic and Hazard wasted no time in making it 2-0 with five minutes to go. Bournemouth simply never looked in control of the game and had to accept their first defeat of the season.
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| Towers of fire greet the players onto the pitch. |
Chelsea fans Peter and Dave before the match.
There are more pictures on Match Day Gallery.
Bournemouth tried to be compact and get everyone behind the ball from the start. Chelsea came close to scoring from a corner on seven minutes, when Kante won the corner and Willian's cross had to be cleared by the near post by Begovic.
Lerma was defending in the box when the ball rubbed up against the back of his arm, but it was accidental despite Chelsea fans' penalty claims. Francis fouled Hazard though when Chelsea's number 10 started to get away from him.
Chelsea were being kept to long shots with Rüdieger firing over from a corner on 18 minutes. Gosling was less fortunate than Francis when he was booked for catching Hazard on the break on 20 minutes. Alonso's free kick went straight into the wall.
Jorjinho also saw his shot deflected for another Chelsea corner, while Rico was doing well blocking Willian's shots, before Alonso fired over on 26 minutes.
Bournemouth's best move of the half saw Wilson and King link up, before Rico took the ball wide and crossed for Wilson, who saw the ball come off his knee and over the bar.
Alonso was carded for the next foul and Steve Cook's header from the free kick was well held by Chelsea's keeper. Zappacosta was getting room on Bournemouth's left but couldn't keep his shot down.
Alonso would come much closer on 45 minutes when Hazard picked him out on the edge of the box and the defender saw his shot come back off the left post, leaving the score 0-0 at half-time.
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| No goals in the first-half. |
Chelsea stepped up their game winning an early corner. Bournemouth were defending well but deep. Lerma as particularly tackling hard. It was Kanté though who was booked next. Aké was close to scoring from a Bournemouth corner but he couldn't keep the shot down from a few yards out.
Things changed when Morata was subbed for Giroud to come on after 61 minutes and Willian made way for Pedro on 65 minutes. Gosling was still blocking attempts from Kovacic.
Chelsea broke through though when Jorginho passed to Alonso and Pedro fired in from 18 yards beating Begovic to his right on 72 minutes. A slight deflection of Steve Cook had helped make the goal. Fraser was played through well on 76 minutes but the wee-man could only fire wide with the keeper to beat.
Chelsea brought on Loftus-Cheek to firm up the middle and subbed Kovacic. Bournemouth subbed Adam Smith on 80 minutes to chase the game with Jordan Ibe and Josh King was replaced by Lys Mousset.
Begovic was saving again from Pedro as spaces opened up for Chelsea. The ball soon arrived with Hazard, who found enough room down the Bournemouth right to get into the box and fire under Begovic to make it 2-0 on 85 minutes.
Bournemouth subbed Lerma for Lewis Cook and while Cook pushed forward well it was too late in the game for Bournemouth. Final Bournemouth corners were easily cleared and Chelsea had been good value for the 2-0 win.
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| First defeat for Bournemouth 2-0. |
Bournemouth are competitive but not the finished article against the strongest teams in the Premier League. If they don't create many chances, they have to score the ones they get. This might be why Brooks was left out after his last match, for his misses last week, but Wilson is regularly missing chances as well. We didn't see enough from Bournemouth as an attacking force to disrupt Chelsea's passing, and while Lerma and Rico will benefit from having played a game against one of the best teams in the league, they had little chance of going forward. It was a game where Bournemouth were hanging on at times and reacting rather than initiating. Still, it was not a heavy away defeat and the players will now have a couple of weeks to really get up for the next match.
AFCB
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| AFCB Subs: Boruc, Mings, Surman, L Cook, Brooks, Ibe, Mousset |
AFCB Ratings
Begovic 7, Francis 6, S Cook 6, Aké 6, A Smith 5, Lerma 6, Gosling 5, Rico 6, Fraser 5, King 5, Wilson 5
Cherry Chimes MoM: Asmir Begovic - could have done better with Chelsea's second goal but he kept the score down with several good saves.
Ref Watch: Lee Mason 4/10 Rüdiger got away with an elbow off the ball on Fraser in the second half. Alonso was also lucky to stay on after he had a yellow card and stopped Adam Smith taking a throw.
Chelsea
Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Rüdiger, David Luiz, Alonso, Kanté, Jorginho, Kovacic (Loftus-Cheek 79), Willian (Pedro 65), Morata (Giroud 61), E Hazard
Chelsea Subs
Caballero, Zappacosta, Christensen, Barkley, Pedro, Loftus-Cheek, Giroud
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