AFC Bournemouth 1-3 Chelsea, Premier League: Post-match reaction, ratings

An at times almost inspired first-half Chelsea performance gave way to a slightly less inspired second-half, but OMG WE WON A GAME!

The Blues started quite well, with plenty of belief and impetus, and Gallagher got himself on the scoresheet once again with a well-timed run to ghost in front of his defender and finish off Kanté’s cross from the right. A goal inside of ten minutes; here we go!

Alas, we were pegged back by a most excellent goal from the home side, with Matías Viña producing a goal of the month candidate to equalize.

The equalizer seemed to sap most of our confidence, and while we maintained majority possession, we didn’t really do much with it, outside of a few bursts from Madueke on the right and Mudryk down the left and center.

Chelsea started the second half with renewed impetus and intention, but were unable to generate enough quality in front of goal to make that count. Bournemouth eventually grew back into the game, and threatened multiple times including Thiago Silva getting away with what surely looked like a penalty on slo-mo.

Contrary to recent results, Chelsea were then able to find a winner, with Badiashile scoring his first for the club. Great free kick by Hakim Ziyech to set that up. And then João Félix put the cherry on top, slotting in a nice pass from Raheem Sterling.

Carefree.

• Chelsea in a back-four, with Chalobah the right back. Gallagher and Kanté the two advanced midfielders either side of Enzo. Madueke and Mudryk on the wings.
• 42 points for Chelsea; We’re staying up!
• First win in ten! First win for Frank Lampard!
• Next up: Nottingham Forest at home next weekend
• KTBFFH

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