Chelsea 2-0 Bournemouth: Hosts claim comfortable win to boost top-four hopes

Chelsea boosted their top-four hopes as they resumed their Premier League season with a comfortable victory over Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.

Having failed to score in three consecutive matches prior to the break for the World Cup it took Chelsea less than 16 minutes to get up and running with Kai Havertz sliding in an effort at the back post from Raheem Sterling's low cross.

With the hosts dominant, Mason Mount celebrated his 150th appearance for Chelsea in style, curling a superb effort into the bottom right corner of the Bournemouth net from the edge of the penalty area.

It drew a nod of satisfaction from manager Graham Potter, who will have been delighted by the slick performance his side delivered, particularly during the first half.

Christian Pulisic saw an effort ruled out after Havertz was judged to have fouled Adam Smith, while the German also spurned a second-half opportunity to extend Chelsea's lead.

The result sees Chelsea move up to eighth in the table, six points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham with Bournemouth remaining in 14th.

The only negative in Potter's and Chelsea's evening came with the earlier-than-planned withdrawal of Reece James, seven minutes into the second period, on his return from the knee injury that ruled him out of the England squad for Qatar.

The 23-year-old lay on the turf with his hands on his head before receiving treatment and eventually walking off unaided.

While the Cherries improved after the break, and substitute Ryan Christie forced home goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga into a good save, they rarely looked capable of applying any late pressure to the hosts.

Chelsea take step forward

Chelsea had come into the contest with question marks over their direction of travel under Potter after a damaging sequence of three consecutive top-flight defeats prior to the World Cup.

However, they appeared galvanised and looked as though the opportunity to reset had worked in their favour.

There was a notable fluency to their play, particularly via the combinations that Sterling, James, Mount and Italian playmaker Jorginho provided, while Havertz and Pulisic worked tirelessly up front to offer an outlet.

And until he was forced off, everything that right-back James produced oozed class.

His marauding runs down the right gave Chelsea an added dimension in attack, with only a good save from visiting goalkeeper Mark Travers denying him a goal just before the break.

Sluggish start dents Bournemouth

Dominic Solanke's driving run and an early Philip Billing free-kick suggested Bournemouth felt capable of taking the game to Chelsea on their own patch.

However, while Gary O'Neil will take positives from the way his team prevented the scoreline from going away from them further in the second period, he will be disappointed by their passive first 45 minutes.

In that period they conceded their 33rd and 34th goals of the campaign, with 26 of those now coming away from home.

Chelsea's opener came from a series of straight passes down the right, with Havertz unchallenged as he opened the scoring, while Mount was given time and space to take aim as four Bournemouth players backed off.

Player of the match

MountMason Mount

Chelsea

Squad number19Player nameMount

Squad number29Player nameHavertz

Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva

Squad number24Player nameJames

Squad number10Player namePulisic

Squad number1Player nameArrizabalaga

Squad number17Player nameSterling

Squad number20Player nameZakaria

Squad number26Player nameKoulibaly

Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta

Squad number32Player nameCucurella

Squad number23Player nameGallagher

Squad number5Player nameJorginho

Squad number14Player nameChalobah

Squad number9Player nameAubameyang

AFC Bournemouth

Squad number1Player nameTravers

Squad number9Player nameSolanke

Squad number10Player nameChristie

Squad number32Player nameAnthony

Squad number33Player nameZemura

Squad number21Player nameMoore

Squad number4Player nameL Cook

Squad number20Player nameDembélé

Squad number25Player nameSenesi

Squad number17Player nameStacey

Squad number29Player nameBilling

Squad number5Player nameKelly

Squad number15Player nameA Smith

Squad number8Player nameLerma

Line-ups

Chelsea

Formation 4-3-3

1Arrizabalaga

24James26Koulibaly6Thiago Silva32Cucurella

20Zakaria5Jorginho19Mount

17Sterling29Havertz10Pulisic

Substitutes

Bournemouth

Formation 5-3-2

1Travers

17Stacey15A Smith25Senesi5Kelly33Zemura

4L Cook8Lerma29Billing

9Solanke21Moore

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, Chelsea 2, Bournemouth 0.

Second Half ends, Chelsea 2, Bournemouth 0.

Attempt missed. Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Siriki Dembélé with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Attempt saved. Jaidon Anthony (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

Foul by Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea).

Jordan Zemura (Bournemouth) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Attempt blocked. Lewis Cook (Bournemouth) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jaidon Anthony.

Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Conor Gallagher.

Substitution, Chelsea. Trevoh Chalobah replaces Raheem Sterling.

Foul by Thiago Silva (Chelsea).

Siriki Dembélé (Bournemouth) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Jaidon Anthony (Bournemouth).

Corner, Bournemouth. Conceded by Mason Mount.

Substitution, Bournemouth. Siriki Dembélé replaces Kieffer Moore.

Offside, Chelsea. Conor Gallagher tries a through ball, but Kai Havertz is caught offside.

Attempt blocked. Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kai Havertz.

Substitution, Chelsea. Conor Gallagher replaces Denis Zakaria.

Substitution, Chelsea. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replaces Christian Pulisic.

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