Chelsea boosted their top-four hopes as they resumed their Premier League season with a comfortable victory over Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Having failed to score in three consecutive matches prior to the break for the World Cup it took Chelsea less than 16 minutes to get up and running with Kai Havertz sliding in an effort at the back post from Raheem Sterling’s low cross.
With the hosts dominant, Mason Mount celebrated his 150th appearance for Chelsea in style, curling a superb effort into the bottom right corner of the Bournemouth net from the edge of the penalty area.
It drew a nod of satisfaction from manager Graham Potter, who will have been delighted by the slick performance his side delivered, particularly during the first half.
Christian Pulisic saw an effort ruled out after Havertz was judged to have fouled Adam Smith, while the German also spurned a second-half opportunity to extend Chelsea’s lead.
The result sees Chelsea move up to eighth in the table, six points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham with Bournemouth remaining in 14th.
The only negative in Potter’s and Chelsea’s evening came with the earlier-than-planned withdrawal of Reece James, seven minutes into the second period, on his return from the knee injury that ruled him out of the England squad for Qatar.
The 23-year-old lay on the turf with his hands on his head before receiving treatment and eventually walking off unaided.
While the Cherries improved after the break, and substitute Ryan Christie forced home goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga into a good save, they rarely looked capable of applying any late pressure to the hosts.
Chelsea take step forward
Chelsea had come into the contest with question marks over their direction of travel under Potter after a damaging sequence of three consecutive top-flight defeats prior to the World Cup.
However, they appeared galvanised and looked as though the opportunity to reset had worked in their favour.
There was a notable fluency to their play, particularly via the combinations that Sterling, James, Mount and Italian playmaker Jorginho provided, while Havertz and Pulisic worked tirelessly up front to offer an outlet.
And until he was forced off, everything that right-back James produced oozed class.
His marauding runs down the right gave Chelsea an added dimension in attack, with only a good save from visiting goalkeeper Mark Travers denying him a goal just before the break.
More to follow.
Player of the match
MountMason Mount
Chelsea
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Squad number19Player nameMount
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Squad number29Player nameHavertz
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Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva
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Squad number24Player nameJames
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Squad number10Player namePulisic
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Squad number1Player nameArrizabalaga
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Squad number17Player nameSterling
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Squad number20Player nameZakaria
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Squad number26Player nameKoulibaly
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Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta
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Squad number32Player nameCucurella
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Squad number23Player nameGallagher
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Squad number5Player nameJorginho
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Squad number14Player nameChalobah
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Squad number9Player nameAubameyang
AFC Bournemouth
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Squad number1Player nameTravers
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Squad number9Player nameSolanke
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Squad number10Player nameChristie
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Squad number32Player nameAnthony
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Squad number33Player nameZemura
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Squad number21Player nameMoore
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Squad number4Player nameL Cook
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Squad number20Player nameDembélé
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Squad number25Player nameSenesi
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Squad number17Player nameStacey
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Squad number29Player nameBilling
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Squad number5Player nameKelly
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Squad number15Player nameA Smith
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Squad number8Player nameLerma
Line-ups
Chelsea
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 24JamesSubstituted forAzpilicuetaat 53′minutes
- 26Koulibaly
- 6Thiago Silva
- 32Cucurella
- 20ZakariaSubstituted forGallagherat 82′minutes
- 5Jorginho
- 19Mount
- 17SterlingSubstituted forChalobahat 88′minutes
- 29Havertz
- 10PulisicSubstituted forAubameyangat 82′minutes
Substitutes
- 9Aubameyang
- 13Bettinelli
- 14Chalobah
- 23Gallagher
- 28Azpilicueta
- 30Chukwuemeka
- 42Humphreys
- 56Hutchinson
- 67Hall
Bournemouth
Formation 5-3-2
- 1Travers
- 17StaceySubstituted forAnthonyat 45′minutes
- 15A Smith
- 25Senesi
- 5Kelly
- 33Zemura
- 4L Cook
- 8Lerma
- 29BillingSubstituted forChristieat 66′minutes
- 9Solanke
- 21MooreSubstituted forDembéléat 85′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Stephens
- 10Christie
- 11Marcondes
- 14Rothwell
- 18Lowe
- 20Dembélé
- 22Pearson
- 32Anthony
- 45Plain
- Referee:
- Simon Hooper
- Attendance:
- 40,046
Live Text
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Match ends, Chelsea 2, Bournemouth 0.
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Second Half ends, Chelsea 2, Bournemouth 0.
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Attempt missed. Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Siriki Dembélé with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Kepa Arrizabalaga.
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Attempt saved. Jaidon Anthony (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
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Foul by Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea).
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Jordan Zemura (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Attempt blocked. Lewis Cook (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jaidon Anthony.
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Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Conor Gallagher.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Trevoh Chalobah replaces Raheem Sterling.
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Foul by Thiago Silva (Chelsea).
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Siriki Dembélé (Bournemouth) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Jaidon Anthony (Bournemouth).
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Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Mason Mount.
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Substitution, Bournemouth. Siriki Dembélé replaces Kieffer Moore.
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Offside, Chelsea. Conor Gallagher tries a through ball, but Kai Havertz is caught offside.
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Attempt blocked. Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kai Havertz.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Conor Gallagher replaces Denis Zakaria.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replaces Christian Pulisic.
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