Chelsea traveled to Bournemouth to claim their revenge from a 1-0 loss earlier in the season, despite the teams this time had barely anything to be played for.
Guus Hiddink differed from his few earlier team selections today as he decided to leave out the youth players from the starting line-up. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was the Chelsea side’s most threatening player against Manchester City last weekend, started from the bench with Matt Miazga, Kenedy and Bertrand Traoré.
However the more experienced side today surely proved their quality, right from the start as well, as it only took less than five minutes for the Blues to open the scoring.
Chelsea played some brilliant counter-attacking football to break the deadlock. Hazard intercepted the ball on his own half to pass it for Diego Costa, who then feeds Cesc Fabregas in midfield position. The Spain international finds his fellow international Pedro on a run, where the former Barcelona man makes no error to put the away side 1-0 ahead.
Despite the home side were braced to get a quick response for the conceded goal, the Blues controlled the game with ease for the first 30 minutes, as the return of Eden Hazard made some clear boost to the attacking trio.
The Belgium international marked his comeback from his recent hip injury with a brilliant strike to end his 29-match goalless run in the league. Fabregas, once again as the creator, played a beautiful backheel pass for Hazard, who then set himself up to launch a powerful strike outside the box to double Chelsea’s lead on the 34th minute.
However, the Cherries got one back in quick success as the home side’s effective short corner ends up in a good goal to make it 2-1 just two minutes after Hazard bagged Chelsea’s second. Simon Francis’ cross met Tommy Elphick’s head which gave the former Brighton man his first ever Premier League goal.
John Obi Mikel – who was yesterday celebrating his 29th birthday – started as a center-back today. Despite he was solid in the heart of the defence against Swansea two weeks ago, he was close to ruin Chelsea’s strong first half with a foul inside the Blues box just before the break. The Nigerian was lucky not to concede a penalty as his poor sliding tackle on Bournemouth forward Lewis Grabban was left unnoticed by today’s referee Roger East. Nevertheless, the first time ended in a solid 2-1 lead for the visitors.
The second half started with some classic end-to-end football, with both sides thriving for more goals. Chelsea’s first real opportunity after the break came through a great low cross from Baba Rahman, which was just missed by Diego Costa who did his best to slide into the arriving ball. Bournemouth’s Junior Stanislas came close after an hour of play to equalize the game with a brilliant curling shot which was close to go in from 25 yards out in goal.
To seal the deal at Golsands Stadium, Cesc Fabregas claimed his third assist of the game on Chelsea’s third goal of the game. The Spaniard played another spectacular through ball for Willian, who then chipped the ball over the fast-arriving Boruc to finish his fifth goal of the campaign. The Brazilian’s goal with under 20 minutes left on the clock killed the game off as Bournemouth never seemed threatening after.
Hiddink, the Premier League season’s oldest manager, was reluctant to give more than one youngster a chance today, as only Loftus-Cheek was subbed on during the game. Chelsea fans surely were left wanting for more.
With just the adding time left on the clock, Chelsea found their fourth of the game and Eden Hazard his second of the season. Fabregas was once again involved in the action as he played one through for Matic, who cut a low cross inside for Hazard to tap in the easiest goal of the match.
Chelsea’s win had no difference on each side’s position in the table as the Blues stay on the 10th position, with the Cherries following them from the 13th place.
Goals: (Assists): 36′ Elphick (Francis) | 5′ Pedro (Fabregas), 34′ Hazard (Fabregas), 71′ Willian (Fabregas) 91′ Hazard (Matic)
Bookings: Ritchie 89′
Chelsea substitutions:
83′ Loftus-Cheek on for Willian
Bournemouth substitutions:
63′ Wilson on for King
63′ Afobe on for Grabban
78′ Ritchie on for Stanislas
