Despite fears of a disjointed performance from the fans due to the amount of first team players only just returning from the World Cup, Chelsea and Graham Potter firmly took control of the first half against Bournemouth at the Bridge. Setting up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, the first half saw the Blues overwhelm Bournemouth in the middle of the park with Recce James often taking high positions down the right allowing Sterling, Havertz and Mason Mount to find decent positions in half spaces in the bid to overload Bournemouth’s defensive third.
The Blues dominance did show with Kai Havertz giving Chelsea a quick lead on the 16th minute before turning provider for Mount’s brilliant second as Chelsea ramped up the chances created in the first half.
Potter could have had his team leading by 3 at the break as Pulisic reacted first to a lose ball in the box but Havertz was deemed to have fouled the Bournemouth defender.
Brilliant starts like this to games this are welcome developments for Chelsea who have mostly produced stale and uninspiring performances during the first half of games this season.
Zakaria a good enough option, or not?
Making his premier league debut, all eyes were firmly fixed on Chelsea’s loan signing from Juventus.
Partnering Jorginho in the double pivot, Zakaria was the box-to-box option here and he gave a good enough impression of what he could offer when fully integrated into the team.
What looked like a very good performance wasn’t all rosy as Zakaria lost the most duels in the game with 7, won only 2 of his 8 contested ground duels but won two of his two tackles. Zakaria was also guilty with being careless a few times while on the ball with stray passes in dangerous positions leading to attacks on the Chelsea goal.
One main part of his game that did however show up big was his recovery (5 ball recoveries) he provided enough cover for Jorginho when he got beat easily. With Kovaciç’s imminent return, Zakaria will be hoping to get another chance soon but his performances have to improve wholly if he’s to stand any chance of displacing either of Jorginho or Kovaciç.
Cucurella slowly getting to grips :
Reinstalled as the team’s first choice left back after Ben Chilwell’s long-term injury, Marc Cucurella is finally starting to show the sort of form that made Chelsea splash mega bucks to secure his signature from Brighton. Cucurella was at his tenacious best here against Bournemouth as he won 4 of his 5 contested ground duels, recovered the ball 10 times, and made 3 clearances while he was dribbled past just once.
Cucurella has often been the scapegoat at the end of some defeats but his impact here in the win certainly deserves good remarks and Potter can only hope he keeps such good performances as the games come thick and fast over the new year period.
Kai Delivers :
Coming off a poor first half of the season, Kai Havertz looked like a man on a mission today in West London. Operating as the spearhead of the attack, Kai scored Chelsea’s first goal, assisted the second while proving a constant menace to Bournemouth. His runs, non-stop pressing and brilliant movement across the frontline made it almost impossible for Bournemouth to track the German international.
Winning 5 of his 5 aerial duels contested (3 headed clearances) also meant Kai helped out when needed defensively as Chelsea sought to defend Bournemouth’s set-pieces.
Kai’s link up play with his attacking partners also caught the eye with it seemingly evident that he has struck a good chemistry with Raheem Sterling in particular who assisted his first goal. It remains to be seen if Kai keeps up this performance as Chelsea seek to rack up the points in the next few games.
Mount Silences Critics once again :
Rendered the black sheep despite decent performances, it was no surprise to see Mason Mount deliver once again. Positioned as the number 10 (behind the striker), Mount also dropped brilliantly into half left positions during build ups to help the team progress the ball better while also finding spaces behind the Bournemouth defence.
Acting as the team’s main creator, Mount delivered 3 chances, a 100% shot accuracy with 2 shots taken, 50% dribble success and 1 goal. In his typical fashion, Mount was as influential in possession as he was off it with 5 of his 7 ground duels won, 2 of his 3 tackles being a success while recovering the ball 5 times. The position just behind the striker seems to be Mount’s favoured position and he showed just that once again here.
It is worthy to note that despite the result, Chelsea did slow down a bit in the second half but remained solid enough to keep a clean-sheet.
Man of the match; Kai Havertz 9/10
Next up for the blues is a trip to Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day.
