Frank Lampard ended his six-match losing streak as Chelsea produce one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. After losing each of their first six games under Lampard’s leadership at the beginning of April, Chelsea went to the south coast in danger of matching an unfortunate club record of seven straight losses in all competitions. However, late goals from Benoit Badiashile (82) and Joao Felix (86) prevented that from happening and gave the visitors a much-needed victory. In-form hosts Bournemouth, who had won six of their previous nine Premier League games, had threatened to complete a comeback after Conor Gallagher’s early header was canceled out by Matias Vina’s strike in the first minute (9), but they were left regretting several missed chances as Badiashile restored Chelsea’s lead before Felix put the outcome beyond doubt.
Following Tuesday’s poor 3-1 loss at Arsenal, former Chelsea and England player Frank Lampard made five changes, Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among them. Bournemouth didn’t alter from the team that destroyed Leeds 4-1. The in-form Cherries of Gary O’Neil started off stronger, but Chelsea seized the lead in the ninth minute as Jefferson Lerma, who scored twice last weekend, shot just wide. N’Golo Kante was given time and space to send an enticing cross from the right side thanks to a pass from Trevoh Chalobah. Recalled midfielder Gallagher then beat Adam Smith to the ball and deflected a close-range header past custodian Neto.
After hearing their team score for just the third time in nine games, Chelsea fans joked about escaping relegation and “we’ve scored a goal” in response to the early breakthrough. But their lead did not last for long. Brazilian left-back After exquisite passing between Ryan Christie and Dominic Solanke, Vina scored the equalizer in the 21st minute, sweetly curling home from right inside the Blues’ 18-yard area. Under its American owners, Chelsea has had a miserable season, while Bournemouth has thrived ever since Texas investor Bill Foley finalized his acquisition in December.
O’Neil’s team, who won five games in April to allay worries of relegation, were fairly at ease for the remainder of the half as Chelsea struggled to come up with ideas and appeared ineffective in attack. After the restart, the visitors kept possession, but the lack of innovation persisted. At the other end, Christie, a vivacious winger, rippled the side of the net as Badiashile turned aside Dango Ouattara’s perilous low cross. Lampard, whose Everton team lost in the Premier League and the Carabao Cup at the Vitality Stadium earlier this season, then watched his team escape a VAR review for a potential penalty when Thiago Silva dived in on Solanke, and Vina was denied a second when Kepa Arrizabalaga deflected his effort over.
Eleven minutes from the end, Ouattara could have given Bournemouth the lead but instead, he nodded over unnoticed after Lerma had headed a Lewis Cook corner back across the net. The three points were won by Chelsea with a flurry of goals in the dying minutes thanks in large part to that missed opportunity. In the 82nd minute, Badiashile, a former defender for Monaco, gave the Blues the lead again after connecting with Hakim Ziyech’s searching free-kick into the area and volleying past Neto to score his first goal for the team. Four minutes later, Felix scored with a first-time effort to bring Lampard some much-needed relief after Sterling, another replacement, had charged into the box and slid the ball to his right.
“It was a tough victory because Bournemouth, although being a decent side, can be threatening at any point in the game because of their pace, vigor, and the individuals they have up front. Because of this, they’ve had a fantastic season and deserve a lot of praise,” Chelsea boss Frank Lampard said. “However, we had no physical custody of the game’s components. We made several incursions into the box and frequently got down the flanks in the first half. Those can be the games you put to bed earlier at a different time as this team develops and we add to it. However, if we don’t and you’re worrying at 1:1 while we’re away. It was two fantastic goals at the end, a set-piece goal and then Joao’s goal to console us, so perhaps we merited our luck.”
“It seemed like a fair competition to me. There were many parts of it that I enjoyed. When we were ahead, Vina gets a one-on-one and Kepa makes a terrific stop. From four or five yards out, Dango also has a great chance, but Kepa makes a great block,” Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil said. “The outcome of the game will definitely change significantly if we manage to gain the upper hand. I’m dissatisfied. We are penalised at the opposite end because we weren’t clinical enough. Up until that time, we were definitely in the game.”
For more football scores, click here
