Is a home win against Chelsea finally possible?

Bournemouth have not managed to beat Chelsea at home in the three previous Premier League games, but this could be their best chance with Chelsea coming off he back of two cup games in the last few days. Maurizio Sarri will no doubt make changes from his large squad to try and keep his strongest side ready for Bournemouth, but Eddie Howe will plan to attack and motivate his players to get that first win against a top six side this season.

Bournemouth take on Chelsea again hoping for a different outcome.

Most of the Chelsea talk has been about the performances of Eden Hazard since their Carabao Cup success against Tottenham last Thursday night. I don't expect Bournemouth believe they can win the game unless they come up with some kind of plan to keep him from causing problems. He turned the last game against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup in December and he is the type of player that can just make the difference in these games. Perhaps Bournemouth will be spared the presence of Higuain having seen him play a full game on Sunday in the FA Cup. Higuain could be on the bench though and will want to get his first Chelsea goal as quickly as possible.

But if Bournemouth know where their main problems are going to come they also have to believe that their newly structured defence, with Boruc in goal and Nathaniel Clyne on the right, can be as compact as they were against West Ham. Back-to-back clean sheets have not been a feature of Bournemouth's season, and the top six have really battered Bournemouth's goal difference. So can this game be different?

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Bournemouth will be pleased they still miraculously have Jefferson Lerma sitting on his last yellow card, and the team really needs a fully-fit Callum Wilson to have that finishing presence on the pitch to cause panic in Chelsea's defence. Eddie Howe needs all his players to step up for a big performance, and under the lights at Dean Court should be a special atmosphere. A win would certainly spark some excitement into an end of season race to try and beat the club's top nine finish.

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Chelsea Away Form
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Other news
Club ownership has changed. Peak 6 has sold its 25 per cent shares in the club. AFCB Enterprises Ltd -Maxim Demin's company - now fully owns AFCB again. 

Late Hazard goal ends Bournemouth's pulsating Carabao cup tie

Match Report

Chelsea 1 v 0 AFCB

19 December 2019

Attendance: 40,432 

Bournemouth fired up their best effort to attempt to get to their first cup semi-final.

Bournemouth took Chelsea all the way in this exhilarating Carabao Cup quarter-final, but lost out to the brilliance of Eden Hazard in the 84th minute. The deciding goal was a scrappy and bumbling shot that deflected off Charlie Daniels, and in past Artur Boruc who had been the central pillar against Chelsea's attack. Bournemouth did come close to scoring first when Callum Wilson drove an early shot past the left post on 16 minutes. Bournemouth surrendered possession to hit on the break and Mousset and Wilson were able to stretch Chelsea. The second half meant the introduction of Eden Hazard and Pedro who started to take the game away from Bournemouth, and while Josh King and Ryan Fraser started to offer more moments of excitement, Wilson and Brooks could not find the goal that Eddie Howe's side deserved. With no joy from a late handball shout and a last minute scramble, Bournemouth fell again at the quarter-final stage, but they gave Chelsea a heck of a fright.

The game gets underway.

Bournemouth played a back three of Steve Cook, Simpson and Daniels and Jordan Ibe and Diego Rico fitted in as wing backs, while Ake played in central midfield with Stanislas and Brooks either side of him and Mousset and Wilson up front.

Chelsea had the better of the opening play with an early corner and Boruc forced to save from Willian at his near post.

Rico played a slightly heavy ball up for Wilson who was beaten to it by Kepa in Chelsea's goal. As Chelsea came again it was Willian who cut inside the left and shot from distance making Boruc save low to his right. Emerson then hit a hard shot right at Boruc's mid-rift.

Steve Cook was making the odd misplaced pass, but AFCB were keeping their shape. Ibe was finding ways to block Willian, while Brooks put in a crunching tackle on Chelsea's number 22.

Bournemouth created a great opportunity when Brooks took the ball forward and Wilson and Mousset exchanged passes, before Wilson smashed his shot inches wide of the left post on 16 minutes.

Azpilicueta played a forward ball for Giroud to split the defence, but Giroud was caught on his heels and Boruc got their first.

Aké started to spot the runs of Wilson better, while Rico put in in a cross from the left before Brooks saw his shot saved on 22 minutes.

Mousset was holding his head in his hands when Brooks and Wilson had raced up the pitch and given him the ball on the left. The Frenchman shot firmly, but it was blocked. Stanislas was creating problems just by his dummies on half way.

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Boruc was forced into another save when Willian broke free on 31 minutes. As Bournemouth recovered Brooks went down in Chelsea's box, slipping just when he might have scored. Ibe then put in a great run through the middle of the pitch and found Mousset who shot well low to the keeper's right and won a corner.

Giroud was getting frustrated as he was finally flagged offside, and Barkley put a shot high and wide. The half ended with a Bournemouth free kick that came out to Brooks, but his drive was blocked.

A great first half from Artur Boruc.

Second half

Chelsea started well again and Barkley had a deflected shot saved. Steve Cook had to make a full stretch interception to stop Chelsea on the break, while Wilson was simply running into trouble. 

Loftus-Cheek then went close with a shot that hit the bottom of the right post on 54 minutes. Pedro was brought on for Willian and Pedro immediately started breaking up play until Brooks put a great tackle in on him. 

Eden Hazard then came on for Barkley on the hour, while Stanislas was replaced by Ryan Fraser. Fraser sped down the left to get a cross in that Kepa had to do well to hang on to with Wilson closing. Mousset and Wilson were linking well.

Fabregas tried to get on the end of move involving Hazard and Pedro, but he ballooned his shot over. Steve Cook and Simpson were winning headers and making blocks.

Fraser then shot over with 20 minutes to go. Hazard could only shoot wide at the other end.

A change was made by Bournemouth with Mousset replaced by Josh King. The pace was increasing as the game headed towards a climax. Wilson claimed for a handball when he could not get a clean shot off, but the referee only awarded a corner.

Brouc saved well again from Hazard on 77 minutes. But when Wilson and a defender competed for a ball in Chelsea's box, the decision went the defender's way.

Chelsea took off Christensen and brought on David Luiz on 81 minutes. In the next three minutes Chelsea would win the game with a break on the left, and Hazard's half-hit shot that flashed past Brouc off Daniels to give Chelsea the lead on 84 minutes.

Bournemouth brought on Defoe for Brooks with just two minutes to go. Steve Cook blasted a shot from a corner that deflected but straight into the arms of Kepa. Four minutes of extra-time had plenty of drama with Boruc having to save well from Hazard and with Ake putting a crunching tackle on Luiz Bournemouth pressed for an equaliser. 

A last minute goal mouth scramble saw Wilson and Fraser have shots blocked but the whistle went before another shot could be struck.

Chelsea survive a late salvo of shots from Bournemouth.

Summary

It was just a pleasure to be there to see Bournemouth compete and at times out play a Chelsea side. It was quite a performance with Boruc making heroic saves, while Mousset and Wilson had us on the edge of our seats awaiting a break through. It was a superb game for the neutral and it hardly stopped for free kicks. Bournemouth still lack that bit of luck in front of goal. The tie had looked destined for penalties until Hazard's late intervention. It was another hard luck story for Eddie Howe's men but they can be really proud of their performance again at Stamford Bridge as it was excellent entertainment and a very close game.

AFCB Subs: Travers, Mings, Surman, Pugh, King, Fraser, Defoe

AFCB Ratings

Boruc 9, S Cook 6, Simpson 7, Daniels 6, Ibe 6, Brooks 8, Aké 7, Stanislas 6, Rico 6, Mousset 8, Wilson 8

Cherry Chimes' MoM: Artur Boruc

Ref Watch - Anthony Taylor: 4/10 Let the game flow but didn't want to make any big decisions.

Chelsea

Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Rüdiger, Christensen (David Luiz 81), Emerson, Kovacic, Fàbregas, Barkley (E Hazard 61), Loftus-Cheek, Giroud, Willian (Pedro 55)

Chelsea Subs
Caballero, Zappacosta, Luiz, Kanté, E Hazard, Pedro, Hudson-Odoi

Can Fraser get any better?

The Wee-man has done it again, hasn't he? We are running out of superlatives for him. Ryan just is hungrier and more eager to impress this season and he is getting rewards in the way of goals and assists. While I guessed (Ed-wrongly!!!) that Eddie Howe might rest the Scotsman after having a problem with his hamstring this last week, I was as glad as anyone to see Ryan Fraser take to the pitch, as he has been the player who has been bang in form for Bournemouth.

Ryan is out to smash his goal scoring record from last season.

Ryan Fraser isn't just playing well though, he is starting to rip teams apart. The analysis on Match of the Day which showed how Ryan has another gear, which he just clicks into when he sees a chance to hurt the opposition was revealing. Ryan does much of his good work off the ball, when he just finds space and runs into it at full pelt. Defenders can't keep up with him, and as we saw with Maguire, the wee-man is also strong enough to hold off the odd hand or shove, and when he gets ahead he is going to get a shot off.

Ryan himself pointed to the way he has learnt a lot from other players. His shooting has been a concern to him and he came back from missing a great chance against Chelsea with a polished performance against Leicester. His second goal was not as picturesque as his first strike, but he played the percentage game, knowing from experience and advice from goalkeepers that shooting at the feet is a high success rate for goals.

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It's working on these small details that are making Fraser a better and better player. His appetite to learn is something I'm sure Howe wishes he could bottle and give to other players. But Fraser's game should rub off on David Brooks and Jordan Ibe and in this way the whole team benefits from such improvements. I don't think there is a level to which Fraser will get and not improve. If he keeps on watching videos of Eden Hazard, Bournemouth will soon have their own European great midfielder.

Chelsea patience pays off against Cherries 2-0

Match Report

Chelsea 2 v 0 Bournemouth

1 September 2018

Attendance: 40,178

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.

Towers of fire greet the players onto the pitch.

There were three changes to Bournemouth's team with Francis, Diego Rico and Jefferson Lerma all making their first starts of the season. Out went Charlie Daniels, while Andrew Surman and David Brooks were relegated to the bench. Chelsea dropped Pedro to the bench and brought Willian into their stating line up.

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.

No goals in the first-half.

Second 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.

First defeat for Bournemouth 2-0.

Summary
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

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

Ask Fans - Rico and Lerma give Bournemouth a welcome boost

Can Begovic keep Hazard out?

Bournemouth don't have a great record against Eden Hazard. The Chelsea star man has scored in the last five games against the Cherries. One man who will be hoping that he can help upset that record is Asmir Begovic, who is likely to make his fourth appearance of the season in Bournemouth's goal.

Begovic will try and stop Hazard and get his second
clean sheet of the season returning to Stamford Bridge.

Begovic has been beaten three times this season in the first three games with one of those goals coming from the penalty spot. Hazard could well be the chosen penalty taker for Chelsea, so part of Begovic's match preparations will surely include seeing where Hazard likes to put his spot kicks. Hazard has one goal and two assist this season, but has only played 133 minutes as he recovers from Belgium's great World Cup. Sarri seems to have to Hazard playing well and it's hard to see a bigger threat to Bournemouth and Begovic in the Chelsea team.

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Whether Bournemouth decide to play as much from the back as they did against Everton at home could be a major focus of what Begovic has had to work on this week. He has an average of 21 passes per game and he has had to take responsibility for clearing his goal effectively when the opposition press on goal kicks. Chelsea are a team that pray on simple mistakes and Begovic has to be on his guard at his former club. If he can keep his second clean sheet of the season though he will be delighted to have done it at Stanford Bridge and I'm hoping his old stadium gives him extra incentive to do well.

Bournemouth will be hoping Begovic does not have to rapidly improve his shot stopping. He has only made six saves in the first three games and has seen eight successful blocks and 83 clearances in front of him already. Chelsea's have also needed their keeper to make six saves and they have a higher block rate of 17 from their three games and far fewer clearances at 51. Out of the eight goals that Chelsea have scored, two have come from the penalty spot.

Possible AFCB line up

AFCB Subs: Boruc, Mings, Francis, L Cook, Lerma, Ibe, Defoe

Eddie was cagey on saying players were carrying knocks this week and that may mean one or two of the starting 11 are unavailable which could give Rico or Lerma their first Premier League start. We do know Mousset has a twisted ankle and Marc Pugh has a hamstring strain, and there are long term injuries to Kyle Taylor and Junior Stanislas. Adam Smith is also back available from his suspension.

Chelsea press conference with Maurizio Sarri

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In other news, Matt Worthington is loaned to Forest Green Rovers in League Two. Bournemouth's U21 also lost 0-3 to Brentford last night.

Can AFCB finally get the better of Chelsea?

Chelsea may have been stretched with injuries, but they are a top side and AFCB need to keep with them in this game and try and snatch something from the game if they can. While Conte has been annoyed with his lack of options, even a weakened Chelsea side is a lot for AFCB to contend with. Their cup defeat to Arsenal will have motivated them to do better and AFCB have to fight for everything now.

AFCB go back to Stanford Bridge in search of three points.

Chelsea remain third in the league having beaten Brighton 0-4 in their last Premier League match. Another south coast match should have a similar outcome in Conte's mind, but Chelsea have been dropping points with draws against Leicester and Arsenal among their last three league matches. They are not finding scoring quite as simple as Man City and their options up front are limited when Morata is not on form or out injured. Whether Chelsea invest this January or not in a top class striker may be more important for their league placing than for the Champions League, but AFCB won't be hoping that Chelsea have to wait until the summer to pick up a star striker.

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Too much focus is perhaps put on Eden Hazard when they do have an excellent and very deceptive font player in Pedro. Pedro picks up numerous goals with his movement and pace and he can be the perfect foil for Hazard on occasions.

The league cup match up at Chelsea showed that Bournemouth can take the game to Chelsea and Eddie Howe will no doubt be showing a lot of the second half play that they had against Chelsea in that game to examine what worked so well. That game was really the start of Dan Gosling playing so well in Bournemouth's central midfield, and now that Lewis Cook has also found more of a regular place in the team, I'm hoping that these two can really power AFCB to be stronger in this area of the pitch, where Chelsea feed balls forward to Hazard and Pedro.

I' m predicting 1-1 tonight but perhaps you are better at guessing how many corners there will be in tonight's game?

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Send your No Corners Tweet for #CFC v #AFCB to @CherryChimes before 5pm am on Wednesday 31 Jan 2018.

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AFCB sat too deep early on against Chelsea

It is understandable that Eddie Howe wanted his players to respect the Chelsea team who are top of the league. But the tactics he chose in the first half were to hold shape and defend fairly deep, knowing that Chelsea were excellent on the counter-attack. This may have made AFCB harder to breakdown, but it also meant that when AFCB won the ball they did so usually in their own half, and a good 70-80 yards away from Chelsea's goal which made it difficult to launch attacks.

AFCB couldn't have played much deeper in the first half.

There was great emphasis on the shape of the team against Chelsea and the discipline was there for everyone to see. While being organised, this is not AFCB's natural game and I some times feel AFCB have to be more confident on what they can do themselves to other sides. There were only two really quick players that would threaten on the break for Chelsea and they were Hazard and Pedro. Costa is a good target man, but he was not going to out run either Cook or Francis. So when AFCB lost the ball it was mainly Hazard and Pedro that the Chelsea midfielders and defenders looked to hit. The wing backs of Marcus Alonso and Victor Moses were the extra dimension that Chelsea had that made it complicated for AFCB to commit men further forward. So Pugh and Fraser were hemmed back far more in their own half than they would have liked.

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The first goal that was an own goal also developed with AFCB being too narrow and Moses found time and space to get the ball into Diego Costa who turned Francis, whom he had a yard on, and even though he didn't get anything like the contact he wanted on his shot, Adam Smith diverted the ball off his head and it was a very soft goal to concede. The second goal too was also made easier for Kante to spot a pass for Hazard, as AFCB were narrow and Smith did get back quickly enough to get to Eden Hazard.

You can defend deep, but AFCB need more work on this type of strategy in my opinion, because against teams like Chelsea that have quality players to pick passes from distance, the door opens up very quickly for players like Hazard when they have a couple of yards on a defender. Still, games like this are a learning curve and perhaps Eddie Howe will consider another approach next time.

AFCB lose their unbeaten run against title chasing Chelsea

Match Report

8 April 2017

AFCB 1 v 3 Chelsea
Attendance: 11,283

Bournemouth and Chelsea meet at Dean Court.

Chelsea kept their title charge on track with a relatively comfortable victory at Dean Court where they raced into a 0-2 lead in the first 20 minutes. First, a spooned shot by Diego Costa in the box that was going wide, diverted off Adam Smith and span in to the Cherries' net, and that was followed by a move from Kante, that saw Eden Hazard round Artur Boruc to score. A bit of balance was restored by Josh King just before half time, when he sped up the right side and whipped a sharp shot on the angle past Courtois and into the top corner. Bournemouth had their chances to get more from the game, although the charmed Chelsea goal denied them on more than one occasion. What marks the top sides out though is their ability to strike when they are looking to kill the game off, and Chelsea won the game with a superbly struck free kick from Marcos Alonso on 68 minutes. 

Former AFCB manager, Harry Redknapp was applauded to the CT Sport pundit's box.

AFCB brought Ryan Fraser back into the starting 11, but Dan Gosling was not fit enough to make the squad.

Jordan Ibe Jack Wilshere and Ryan Fraser before kick off.

Fabregas was one of Chelsea's subs.

More pictures will be on Match Day Gallery.

Bournemouth almost got off to the dream start as a strong run by Josh King and driven cross resulted in David Luiz slicing his clearance towards Chelsea's goal only for Courtois to react quickly and push it over for the first corner of the game. Wilshere then set Ryan Fraser on a run against Luiz only for him to hit his shot well wide.

Chelsea looked to break up Bournemouth's fast-led attacks with N'Golo Kante issuing the 'policy of thou shalt not pass', in what every way he could get away with. AFCB soon had a second corner and were intercepting and switching play well, but Chelsea were the ones that were soon pressing forward. 

Moses was first to see a yellow card but he made a good cross moments later that Francis headed away only for Maroc Alonso's shot to be blocked by Adam Smith, before the follow up was driven over. Hazard was next to shoot wide as the Chelsea machine started to build momentum.

Harry Arter was making his presence felt with a foul on Hazard that see him take out the Chelsea star player near the half way line. 

AFCB's attacks came at lightning pace with Fraser leading the charge and Josh King scuffing his shot wide, just failing to get his foot round the ball fully.

As luck would have it, Chelsea would go ahead a minute later with Moses passing to Costa who spooned his shot that looked to be going wide off the edge of his boot, but it deflected off of Adam Smith's head and squirmed into the net to give Chelsea the lead on 17 minutes. Matters became even worse for AFCB just a few minutes later when Hazard sprung the offside trap from Kante's pass, and sped to the left, rounded Boruc and tucked the ball neatly into the middle of the goal to make it 0-2. Steve Cook had played Hazard on side, when it looked at the time that the goal should have been ruled out to me and the other AFCB fans around me.

Bournemouth weren't playing poorly, but they were being punished cruelly. They worked they way back up to Chelsea's box where King and Ryan Fraser worked the ball on the right before Fraser smashed as shot that Courtois pushed away, but Pugh could not get his body in a shape to hit the high volley with a defender blocking his path.

Pressure was kept on by Wilshere winning a free kick on the edge of the box. Fraser ht the free kick into the wall, but when the ball was worked up the left with Daniels firing in a cross, Benik Afobe lunged for a volley and smashed his shot onto the left post and off Courtois, before it was cleared.

Arter received a yellow card or a foul on Costa. But a bit of fortune saw Adam Smith get the better of Alonso with the help of his hand and Afobe spotted the run of King who hit his shot against Luiz and if flew passed Courtois into the top corner on 42 minutes. 

Second Half

Some one forgot to put the floodlights on for a few minutes of the second half, but they went on eventually.  But would we see Bournemouth flick the switch to help Spurs? Well Ryan Fraser came close with an early drive that was a whisker the wrong side of Courtois' right post.

Chelsea were still counter-attacking well with Alonso bringing a save out of Boruc who used his feet to make the save.

The referee finally caught up with Kante's misdemeanours and gave him a yellow for a foul on King. The game was effectively killed when Steve Cook brought down Costa just outside the Bournemouth box. Alonso decided to take the free kick and struck it sweetly, right into the top right corner - Boruc's feet were stuck in concrete - it was 1-3. To be honest, I don't think if AFCB had two keeper's in the goal they would have stopped the shot from going in.

Ibe replaced Pugh on 71 minutes as AFCB looked for a response.

Chelsea's game management was then fairly good. Perez picked up a yellow for catching Arter around the head, as Chelsea took the odd foul to halt AFCB's progress. Afobe was subbed on 77 minutes to bring Mousset on and he was straight into the action and almost put King in before Matic spotted the danger.

Boruc then made a good save from Pedro with 10 minutes to go. AFCB were not going to finding it easy to get back into the game with Chelsea continuing to pose a goal threat.

Gradel came on for Pugh with seven minutes to go. Fabregas also replaced Hazard a couple of minutes later and Pedro went off for Willian, just to get a couple of minutes, and Victor Moses left the field in added time with Zouma finishing the match in the Chelsea defence.

AFCB slip down the table to 15th.

Summary

The gap between AFCB and teams like Chelsea are not as big as they were last season. There is improvement, but AFCB defended deeper than Howe would have wanted in the first half and brought pressure on themselves. On the counter Chelsea are good and their second goal proved that. They have the players to cut open defences with one pass from deep and Hazard is a top finisher. Add the unstoppable Alonso free kick and it would have seemed to many quite a simple win, but had Afobe's volley had gone a few inches the other side of striking the post and had Adam Smith not have made the opening own goal, it might have been a much tighter match - on such small defining lines are matches won and lost.

Simon Francis and N'Golo Kante shake the official's hands.

AFCB
Boruc, Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Fraser (Gradel 84), Arter, Wilshere, Pugh (Ibe 71),
Afobe (Mousset 77), King

AFCB SubsAllsop, B Smith, Cargill, Gradel, L Cook, Ibe, Mousset

AFCB Ratings
Boruc 6, A Smith 6, Francis 6, Cook 5, Daniels 6, Fraser 8, Arter 7, Wilshere 7, Pugh 6,
Afobe 6, King 9

Chelsea
Courtois, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill, Moses (Zouma 90+2), Kanté, Matic
Alonso, Pedro (Willian 87), Hazard (Fàbregas 83), Diego Costa

Chelsea Subs
Begovic, Fàbregas, Zouma, Willian, Batshuayi, Terry, Chalobah

Referee Watch Andre Mariner - 6/10: I would have like to see a harder line taken with some of the repetitive fouling a bit earlier in the game. I wasn't sure about the second Chelsea goal but on replay You could see it was well constructed goal, so the officials did well there.