Chelsea's momentum, which had been building since the final week of November, seems to have hit a roadblock this December. Despite outclassing Barcelona and matching Arsenal with 10 men, their recent defeat at Leeds and a draw against Bournemouth has slowed them down. This is particularly disappointing considering Arsenal’s earlier loss to Aston Villa; it was indeed a missed opportunity for Chelsea.
The stalemate with Bournemouth has further widened the gap between Enzo Maresca’s side and the top of the Premier League table by eight points. However, Maresca isn't ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Chelsea's scoring drought in this league game is notable as it marks their first failure to score since their opening weekend against Crystal Palace. Their run of 13 matches scoring was previously the longest of any team this season. Cole Palmer, who made his first league start since that goalless draw in August, exerted little influence and was replaced by João Pedro after an hour.
Injury concerns
Adding to Chelsea's woes is an injury concern for Liam Delap who had to leave before half-time using his shirt as a makeshift sling after falling on his shoulder at a defensive corner. The summer signing from Ipswich has already missed two months of this season due to a hamstring injury.
Enzo Maresca, Chelsea manager, said:
“It looks quite bad, his shoulder. He has been unlucky. Also, we are a bit unlucky because we need that kind of No 9.”
Bournemouth took inspiration from Leeds' playbook and hounded Chelsea right from kick-off. Antoine Semenyo thought he had given Bournemouth an early lead when he pounced on a loose ball inside the area but VAR intervened due to Evanilson being marginally offside from Alex Scott’s incisive pass into the box. Reece James narrowly escaped embarrassment when Marcus Tavernier found space on edge of Chelsea box only for Robert Sánchez to pat down his shot. Justin Kluivert beat James to the ball and went down, but the Dutchman’s appeals for a penalty were cut short by the assistant’s flag.
Chelsea's best move
Chelsea's most dangerous move of the half came from a moment of quality from Palmer, setting up Marc Cucurella who headed Pedro Neto’s cross over at the back post. After Delap went off, Bournemouth rallied again before the break with Semenyo testing Sánchez and Evanilson narrowly missing a rebound at the back post.
Chelsea showed more attacking force after halftime with Enzo Fernández, Neto and Palmer all having efforts saved by Djordje Petrovic. Garnacho was unlucky when his header from Neto’s cross hit a post.
While Chelsea may have lost some ground in this stalemate against Bournemouth and suffered an injury blow with Delap, they are not out of contention yet. The season is still young and there are plenty of games left for them to regain their momentum.
