Eddie Howe’s brilliant Bournemouth went away from Stamford Bridge with all 3 points after a dismal Chelsea performance saw them defeated 3-0. Goals from Callum Wilson, Junior Stanislas and former Blue Nathan Ake in the second half put Antonio Conte’s side to the sword and exposed many weaknesses throughout the team.
New signings Olivier Giroud and Emerson Palmieri were introduced to the home crowd before kick-off but would’ve been left stunned by what they saw. Gary Cahill had Chelsea’s best chance of the game but could only head over from a few yards out from Eden Hazard’s corner. The rest of the first half went by without either side creating many chances as Chelsea struggled in advanced areas without a recognised striker. Ross Barkley, Pedro and Hazard were unable to link up and didn’t seem to have any sort of understanding between them.
No changes were made at the break when they probably should’ve been and Tiemoue Bakayoko and the rest of the Chelsea team had 45 minutes to forget. The Frenchman was dispossessed in midfield by Callum Wilson, he played a one-two with Jordon Ibe and slotted the ball under the onrushing Thibaut Courtois to give the visitors a shock lead. Cesc Fabregas was introduced to try and give the Blues some impetus going forward but things didn’t exactly improve.
Callum Wilson and Junior Stanislas combined several times during a fast-flowing move that ended with the latter poking the ball through a timid Courtois and wheeling away in celebration towards the travelling contingent with his team 2 goals up. Stamford Bridge was left stunned while Conte decided to throw on Callum Hudson-Odoi and the 17-year-old was brighter than any other of his experienced teammates during his half an hour stint in attack. His influence wasn’t felt, however, until Bournemouth had their 3rd goal.
This goal summed up everything that is wrong about Chelsea at the moment. To the dismay of the Chelsea fans, Nathan Ake, who had graduated from the club’s academy and established himself in the first team squad, was sold to Bournemouth for around £21m. Chelsea went on to buy Antonio Rudiger from Roma for £10m more who hasn’t done any better than Ake would’ve, doesn’t look good enough to wear the Chelsea shirt and looks extremely uncomfortable in a back 3. On his return to Stamford Bridge, Ake converted Bournemouth’s third goal from close range and went off to celebrate in front of his fans.
The Blues stuttered to the end still in a state of shock and could’ve had a penalty when Ake handled in front of his own goal but, in reality, the penalty wouldn’t have made a difference to the final result as the pressure mounts on Antonio Conte. After an uninspiring transfer window which saw promising youngsters sent out on loan and replaced by, frankly, average players, maybe the problems lie further beyond what happens on the pitch and on the training ground.