Chelsea Beats Bournemouth To Boost Their Top 4 Hopes

Chelsea improved their chances of making the top four in the Premier League by beating Bournemouth easily in their first game.
After not scoring in three straight games before the World Cup break, it took Chelsea less than 16 minutes to get on the board. Raheem Sterling’s low cross found Kai Havertz, who slid in a shot at the back post.
Mason Mount made his 150th appearance for Chelsea in style. From the edge of the penalty area, he curled a great shot into the bottom right corner of the Bournemouth goal.
It made the team’s manager, Graham Potter, nod in approval. He must have been happy with how well his team played, especially in the first half.
Havertz was called for a foul on Adam Smith, which took away one of Christian Pulisic’s goals. In the second half, the German also missed a chance to add to Chelsea’s lead.
With this win, Chelsea moves up to eighth place in the table, six points behind Tottenham in fourth, while Bournemouth stays in 14th.
The only bad thing about Potter and Chelsea’s night was that Reece James left the game earlier than planned after coming back from a knee injury that kept him out of the England team for Qatar. He left the field seven minutes into the second half.
The 23-year-old lay on the grass with his hands on his head until he got help and was able to walk away on his own.
Even though the Cherries got better after halftime and substitute Ryan Christie made home goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga make a good save, they didn’t put much pressure on the hosts in the second half.
Before the World Cup, Chelsea had lost three games in a row in the Premier League, which was bad for the team and made people wonder where Potter was taking them.
But they looked like they were fired up, and it seemed like the chance to start over had helped them.
Their play was very smooth, especially when Sterling, James, Mount, and the Italian playmaker Jorginho worked together, while Havertz and Pulisic worked hard up front to give them a way out.
Right back James did everything with the class until he had to leave the game.
His dangerous runs down the right side gave Chelsea a new way to attack. Only a good save by the other team’s goalkeeper, Mark Travers, stopped him from scoring just before halftime.
Dominic Solanke’s strong run and Philip Billing’s early free-kick showed that Bournemouth thought they could beat Chelsea on their own turf.
Gary O’Neil will be happy that his team kept the score from getting worse in the second period, but he will be disappointed with how they played in the first 45 minutes.
During that time, they gave up their 33rd and 34th goals of the season, and 26 of those goals have now been scored away from home.
The first goal for Chelsea came from a series of straight passes down the right side. Havertz scored the first goal without being stopped, and Mount was able to shoot because four Bournemouth players moved away.
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