Chelsea's title hopes continue to slip away as Enzo Maresca's team settled for a stalemate against Bournemouth, leaving them eight points behind the top of the Premier League.
The visitors made it clear from the start that they were there to trouble Chelsea, and their relentless pressure eventually told. Just six minutes into the game, Antoine Semenyo should have given his side the lead, but Evanilson was marginally offside when he pounced on a loose ball inside the area. Moments later, Reece James was denied a blushes-saving equalizer after Justin Kluivert went down in the box, with the assistant's flag intervening.
Despite dominating possession and creating half-chances, Chelsea were unable to break down Andoni Iraola's team, who had nullified their threat down one side of the pitch. Cole Palmer made his first league start for months but failed to exert much influence, before being replaced by João Pedro at halftime.
It was an injury to Liam Delap that concerned Maresca the most, as the summer signing from Ipswich has already missed two months of the season with a hamstring injury. Delap's replacement, Marc Guiu, received little service and struggled to make an impact.
Bournemouth also had their share of scares, but ultimately were unable to capitalize on their chances. Semenyo tested Djordje Petrovic twice in the first half before Garnacho's header from Pedro Neto's cross went just wide off a post at the back.
The stalemate left Maresca's team with little cause for joy, despite having had better chances than Chelsea. "I think we had better chances than Chelsea," Iraola said after the game. "We've had games where we've played worse and you manage to get a goal, one set piece, you win 1-0. Now everything is costing us, but I think we can build on this performance."
For Chelsea, the draw was yet another missed opportunity in their quest for top spot. Despite picking up some momentum in the final week of November with victories over Barcelona and Arsenal, they appear to have lost ground since then. The loss leaves them eight points behind the leaders and raises concerns about their title hopes.
The visitors made it clear from the start that they were there to trouble Chelsea, and their relentless pressure eventually told. Just six minutes into the game, Antoine Semenyo should have given his side the lead, but Evanilson was marginally offside when he pounced on a loose ball inside the area. Moments later, Reece James was denied a blushes-saving equalizer after Justin Kluivert went down in the box, with the assistant's flag intervening.
Despite dominating possession and creating half-chances, Chelsea were unable to break down Andoni Iraola's team, who had nullified their threat down one side of the pitch. Cole Palmer made his first league start for months but failed to exert much influence, before being replaced by João Pedro at halftime.
It was an injury to Liam Delap that concerned Maresca the most, as the summer signing from Ipswich has already missed two months of the season with a hamstring injury. Delap's replacement, Marc Guiu, received little service and struggled to make an impact.
Bournemouth also had their share of scares, but ultimately were unable to capitalize on their chances. Semenyo tested Djordje Petrovic twice in the first half before Garnacho's header from Pedro Neto's cross went just wide off a post at the back.
The stalemate left Maresca's team with little cause for joy, despite having had better chances than Chelsea. "I think we had better chances than Chelsea," Iraola said after the game. "We've had games where we've played worse and you manage to get a goal, one set piece, you win 1-0. Now everything is costing us, but I think we can build on this performance."
For Chelsea, the draw was yet another missed opportunity in their quest for top spot. Despite picking up some momentum in the final week of November with victories over Barcelona and Arsenal, they appear to have lost ground since then. The loss leaves them eight points behind the leaders and raises concerns about their title hopes.
... like, so close that you're not even sure if your team's gonna win or lose until the last minute of the game 
... And Chelsea just had another one of those games where they dominated but couldn't score 
... It's like they need to find a way to click into gear and make all their chances count, 'cause if they don't, Man City is just gonna keep pulling away 
... And Bournemouth was there for the taking, so it's def worth wondering what could've been 
... Anyway, I think this is exactly why Maresca's comment after the game resonates - he thinks his team had better chances than Chelsea, and that's a fair call 
...
. They're not just losing games, they're dropping points against teams that aren't even top 4 material 
️. And now they're eight points behind, whoa that's a big gap to close 
. What's going on with Lampard's team, are they just not gelling or what? 
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. enzo maresca's team played really solid defense and nullified chelsea's threat which is impressive. but at the same time, bournemouth was also pretty lucky to get that draw. cole palmer didn't even make an impact after coming on in the first half 
i mean what's up with cole palmer?? he's been out for months and still hasn't made an impact 
They were really close to getting that win but just couldn't quite get it together 
. And hey, at least Cole Palmer got his first league start in months 
! But yeah, that injury to Liam Delap is a big concern... fingers crossed he gets back soon 
The season's not over yet, and Chelsea still have plenty of chances to make up ground 
and got a well-deserved draw 
right now, but yeah, Maresca's squad can't catch a break 
and i swear i almost saw a deer 
but it ran away lol. anyway back to football... i feel bad for Chelsea tho, they need to get that momentum back ASAP 
Evanilson was offside tho, so can't give Bournemouth all the credit... still, it's another point dropped for Chelsea, and now they're 8 points behind 
. I don't think Cole Palmer's been back from his injury long enough to make an impact yet either, João Pedro should've started instead... anyway, gotta keep supporting The Blues, even if things aren't goin' our way right now 
. Maresca's team played well, deserved the draw imo 
. I'm not saying Andoni Iraola's team was that good or anything, but they did manage to nullify Chelsea's threat down one side of the pitch. It's like they had a special task force sent in to stop Cole Palmer from being... well, Cole Palmer 
they're like 8 points behind now and it's not looking good for them, especially with liam delap missing out due to that hamstring injury 
it's like they're running out of time you know? and bournemouth was unlucky not to win it, semenyo should've scored that one in the first half, but evanilson got there just a split second too late 
anyway, i think maresca said he thinks his team had better chances than chelsea, which is true, they did create more half-chances and dominated possession 
but it all came down to who could capitalize on their chances, and bournemouth just couldn't do it