CHELSEA’S disaster December Advent calendar only had a point in store for them away on the south coast against Bournemouth.
A result that saw them fail to take advantage of Arsenal being beaten by Aston Villa late on.
Antoine Semenyo wheeled off in celebration, thinking he’d given the home side the lead after three minutes, only for VAR to rule it out for offside.
The first half continued in that vein, with the Blues fortunate not to be down by at least one at half-time.
An injury to Liam Delap and several good saves by Robert Sanchez were the biggest talking points of a largely flat first 45 minutes.
Chelsea sprung out of the traps quickly in the second half, with Alejandro Garnacho striking the post and Pedro Neto forcing two saves out of Djordje Petrovic, but the game remained goalless for the entirety of the second half too.
BLUES BLOW
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WITS ENZ
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The draw leaves them fourth in the Premier League, with their next league game at home to high-flying Everton, who sit just one point behind them.
Here’s how SunSport Chelsea Reporter Lloyd Canfield rated the Blues:
ROBERT SANCHEZ – 7
He was let off by the offside flag early in the first half, when he palmed a Marcus Tavernier shot into the path of Evanilson, who looked to be fouled.
And he was counting his lucky stars that Evanilson didn’t score after 35 minutes, too, but that was actually after a pretty impressive stop to deny Semenyo.
Sanchez made several good first-half saves to keep Chelsea in it, and followed them up with more solid stops in the second 45, particularly to keep Semenyo off the scoresheet.
His chant: “He used to be s****, now he’s alright, walking in a Sanchez wonderland’ was sung loudly by the visiting fans.
MALO GUSTO – 5
A lovely spin in the middle of the park in the first half saw Gusto getting shouts of “Malo-Donna” and “Malodinho”.
Chelsea looked much better with him at right-back than they did against Leeds, but defending against Semenyo was a tough task for him.
Despite being defensively suspect at times, it was a decent display from the Frenchman on the whole.
WESLEY FOFANA – 7
Tosin Adarabioyo being left out of the squad entirely after his horror show against Leeds in midweek meant Fofana didn’t have an overly tough act to follow.
His place as a first-choice Chelsea centre-half whenever fit would have been solidified by another good showing today.
Solid in the air and quick along the ground, it’s easy to see why Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca wishes he could play him every few days.
TREVOH CHALOBAH – 5
Had a few nervous moments on the ball in the first half, but looked much more confident alongside Fofana.
One X user described his performance as follows: “Watching Chalobah makes me nervous. Feels like watching a dog drive your car perfectly. They’re driving perfectly. But they’re still a dog.”
A rather strange, yet rather accurate way of describing his game today.
MARC CUCURELLA – 6
Less impactful than usual in terms of his attacking role in this one, but that is usually the case when Reece James and Gusto are both also on the team sheet.
Came close early on with a header that went over the bar, and didn’t give much to Alex Jimenez on the Bournemouth right.
Was defensively strong as usual.
REECE JAMES – 2
It wasn’t the midfield masterclass we saw from James against Barcelona or Arsenal.
A double pivot of him and Enzo Fernandez raised questions of Chelsea defensively, with neither team playing a natural No6.
The Blues’ captain was poor on the ball, giving the ball away on a few too many occasions, and was lucky to escape putting his team 1-0 down.
ENZO FERNANDEZ – 3
Beaten far too easily in the middle of the park, and having him and James in midfield together was not an experiment Chelsea fans will want to see again.
Not bad on the ball, but the Blues were bossed by the likes of Alex Scott and Tavernier.
The visitors also seemed to miss him in the No10 spot too, and were unable to take advantage of his usual late runs into the penalty area.
PEDRO NETO – 5
Had Chelsea’s first shot on target with a good effort in the second half, which was denied by ex-Chelsea keeper Petrovic.
Another shot saved moments later saw him really improve after the halfway point.
COLE PALMER – 4
The ice-cold Chelsea star still seems to be thawing out.
Starting his first game for Chelsea since September, when he was substituted after 20 minutes at Old Trafford, Palmer looked a little rusty on the ball.
Showed the occasional nice touch and pass, but mostly seemed off the pace before being swapped for Joao Pedro after 58 minutes, to jeers from the home fans.
ALEJANDRO GARNACHO – 5
After a quiet first half, which involved plenty of running but not much productivity, Garnacho struck the post early in the second half with a header.
LIAM DELAP – 3
A performance reminiscent of Chelsea strikers of the past this afternoon.
Unfortunately, it was the attitude of Diego Costa and the finishing ability of Alvaro Morata that he brought to the Vitality Stadium.
Showed some good moments of hold-up play, but didn’t add much else to his game.
Subbed after 32 minutes, with his shirt being used as a makeshift sling after a tussle with Marcos Senesi.
SUBS:
MARC GUIU (LIAM DELAP, 32) – 4
I could have copied and pasted Liam Delap’s section here, after what was pretty much a like-for-like change by Maresca.
The young striker did at least manage a couple of shots and offered a bit more in terms of getting the ball down and playing, but was unable to make any of his shots count.
It will be interesting to see if he’s trusted from the start against Everton.
JOAO PEDRO (COLE PALMER, 58) – 5
Looked to drive with the ball when he came on from the bench, but similarly to Palmer, he wasn’t able to create much in terms of meaningful opportunities.
Pretty quiet in all honesty, despite a few decent passes.
ESTEVAO (ALEJANDRO GARNACHO, 76) – 5
The Brazilian wonderkid was bought on late by Maresca after his “welcome to the Premier League” moment against Leeds.
Looked pretty frozen out on the right wing after coming on, and was well marshalled by the Bournemouth left side.
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