Chelsea fans were given a huge late goal to celebrate last night that saved them from what would have been a damning defeat in the Premier League.
It was Reece James who was the hero at Stamford Bridge last night, as he came off the bench to score a sensational free-kick to make it 2-2.
It was a huge moment for the club captain, scoring his first goal since 2022 and hopefully announcing his return to regular football amid his recent injury woes.
Andoni Iraola says Reece James free-kick shouldn’t have stood
James said after the game he sensed the chance to score the free-kick after spotting some space on the goalkeepers side, and he took advantage of that.
It will still feel like a negative result for the Blues, however it has to be acknowledged that they could have very easily left West London last night without anything.
There were no complaints at the decision made by referee Robert Jones to award the free-kick, however Bournemouth boss Androni Iraola still believes that the goal should not have stood.
Journalist Nizaar Kinsella has said that Iraola believes that Marc Cucurella played a role in stopping one of his players from getting in the way of the set-piece.
He said: “Andoni Iraola says Reece James’s free-kick goal shouldn’t have stood as Marc Cucurella stopped Antoine Semenyo from blocking the ball. He also says Chelsea deserved the point for being much better in the first half.”
Enzo Maresca believes Bournemouth should have received red card
The referee was again the centre of attention earlier on in the game when he was called to the monitor to assess a potential red card.
David Brooks had grabbed Cucurella around the head to stop him getting away on the counter attack, however was only shown a yellow card after the VAR review.
Enzo Maresca believes it was the wrong decision, and Chelsea should have been taking on 10 men for the majority of the second half.
He told Football London: “I think so. But this season it already happened not only one time, already many times, even with some penalty, with some… but hopefully we can be more lucky in the future.
“When there is not intention to take the ball, it’s a red. How can they judge that was not dangerous? In my opinion it’s a red.”
The Blues will feel hard done by following a number of decisions in recent weeks, with that coinciding with their poor run of form.
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