Chelsea claimed a crucial win after overcoming a spirited Bournemouth side at the Vitality Stadium. Chelsea claimed a crucial win after overcoming a spirited Bournemouth side at the Vitality Stadium.
Chelsea made it three wins in a week after seeing off Bournemouth 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Following an even opening ten minutes, Chelsea began to dominate their hosts. With the visitors camped in the opposition half, Alvaro Morata had two excellent chances to break the deadlock, each after linking with Eden Hazard. The first saw him fire wide with only Asmir Begovic to beat before the former Chelsea goalkeeper stuck out a firm left hand to thwart the Spaniard a few minutes later. Morata did find eventually find the back of the net, only for the strike to be ruled out with Cesar Azpilicueta fractionally offside in the build-up.
Bournemouth changed both personnel and shape at half-time and briefly succeeded in pressing Chelsea higher up the pitch. The match, however, soon resumed the pattern of the first half with the Blues scoring the only goal at 51 minutes. Good work from Morata saw him hold off two defenders before scooping a pass to Hazard. The Belgian took advantage of an error by Steve Cook to burst into the penalty area and shoot inside Begovic's near post. Chelsea missed chances to put the game beyond Bournemouth but were solid enough to see out the game.
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Positives
The dominant performance that saw the team on the front foot from start to finish was encouraging after a few recent wobbles. A sound defence, with club captain Gary Cahill omitted, restricted Bournemouth to just one shot on target.
Negatives
There was a lack of ruthlessness in front of the goal that was surprising given the four goals scored against Watford and the three against Roma. It meant that the result remained in the balance until the final whistle despite Chelsea controlling the entire game.
Manager rating out of 10
7 -- Spying a potential weak link down Bournemouth's left flank, Antonio Conte directed most of his team's attack down that side to good effect. The only downside was that Marcos Alonso was left largely unused and Eddie Howe's team steadily negated the threat during the second half.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Thibaut Courtois, 7 -- Only had one real shot to save and that was straight at him. Dealt with every cross easily and generally had a very gentle evening.
DF Antonio Rudiger, 7 -- Was assured and unruffled all match. Passed the ball well even in tight situations and used his physical prowess to good effect.
DF David Luiz, 7 -- A couple of misjudged attempts to win the ball in advanced areas were almost his undoing. Otherwise deployed his range of passing well to help create openings against a tightly packed defence.
DF Cesar Azpilicueta, 8 -- This was more like what we have come to expect from the versatile defender who has been a little out of sorts of late. Made one tremendous defensive header and another vital block in the six-yard box to ensure his team kept a clean sheet.
MF Marcos Alonso, 6 -- Made no great contribution to the game, largely because most of the play came down the other flank. A couple of wild crosses when he did get the ball did not help his cause.
Eden Hazard's strike in the 51st minute secured a 1-0 win against Bournemouth.
MF Tiemoue Bakayoko, 6 -- A game of two halves for the Frenchman. Imposing and fairly precise in the first period. More error prone in the second, though without causing his teammates too many problems.
MF Cesc Fabregas, 7 -- Another to enjoy a mixed performance, mainly because his attempts to unpick a massed defence were often denied by Bournemouth's organisation. Almost settled the game late on when his shot from a narrow angle went just over.
MF Davide Zappacosta, 7 -- Linked reasonably well with Hazard as they sought to exploit any weaknesses in Bournemouth's defence. Had to be focused to keep tabs on Charlie Daniels.
FW Pedro Rodriguez, 7 -- A busy presence during his time on the pitch and was a constant menace to the opposition when he cut inside off his flank. Had a couple of sights of goal without unduly troubling Begovic.
FW Eden Hazard, 9 -- The standout player on the pitch, it was no surprise to see almost every positive moment come through him. His invention and trickery constantly had Bournemouth backtracking, and he fully deserved to score the decisive goal.
FW Alvaro Morata, 7 -- The Spaniard had clearly mislaid his shooting boots, as a wasteful first half in front of goal threatened to undermine Chelsea's dominance. Thankfully he led the line superbly otherwise, and his link-up play was a joy to behold at times.
Substitutes
FW Michy Batshuayi, NR -- Made a couple of impressive defensive interventions and fired a hugely ambitious shot high and wide.
MF Danny Drinkwater, NR -- Brought on to shore up the game, he was like a magnet to the ball and broke up Bournemouth's play several times.
FW Willian, NR -- Almost embarrassed Begovic after an error by the keeper but was otherwise on the periphery.
Phil is one of ESPN's Chelsea bloggers. You can follow him on Twitter @PhilLythell.
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Source: espn.co.uk