Chelsea once again failed to secure a win in the Premier League as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Bournemouth on Tuesday night at Stamford Bridge. Cole Palmer opened the scoring for the Blues early in the first half. Bournemouth then took the lead in the second half through a Justin Kluivert penalty and an Antoine Semenyo goal. A late Reece James free-kick salvaged a point for the home side. Here are the positives and negatives from the match.
Positives
1. Cole Palmer Once Again Making the Difference
Since December 16th, Chelsea has scored only three Premier League goals. Two of them came from Cole Palmer. The situation is eerily similar to how things were during Eden Hazard's time at Chelsea, with one player doing everything to keep the team afloat while the rest falter, particularly the striker. Apart from scoring, Palmer created three chances as well. He also got kicked in his ankle towards the end of the first half, which didn’t help his case.
Palmer's goal demonstrated the difference between players like Nicolas Jackson and him. Palmer was presented with a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper. Chelsea fans have seen time and again how players like Jackson and Sterling lose their balance, hit the ball straight at the goalkeeper, or miss the target entirely. Palmer, however, almost always finds the net with ease. On Tuesday, Palmer brilliantly faked a shot first, making Mark Travers dive in one direction before calmly slotting the ball into the net.
2. Enzo Fernandez in the middle
No player created more chances (7) than the Argentine during the match, with the second being Palmer (3). Fernandez also made five more passes into the final third (12) than any other player on the pitch. The World Cup winner completed more accurate passes than anyone else. However, he will be disappointed with a big chance he missed in the first half due to a heavy touch.
3. Late Equalizer from Reece James
Chelsea players put in a strong effort to equalize in the closing stages of the match. With Enzo Maresca failing to provide a tactical setup, it was left to the players to make an impact. Fortunately, Joao Felix was fouled by Bournemouth, earning Chelsea a free kick. Captain Reece James stepped up and took full advantage, curling a brilliant free kick to the left-hand side of goalkeeper Mark Travers. For James, this goal was especially meaningful, considering his injury struggles over the past three years.
Negatives
1. Inability to Finish Chances by Nicolas Jackson
The first goal Chelsea scored was thanks to Jackson, who brilliantly took the ball past multiple players before finding Palmer with a pass. But after that, it was the usual display that fans have grown frustrated with. He missed three big chances during the match. Apart from Enzo Fernandez’s missed chance, no other player squandered any. The stat highlights just how costly performance of Jackson was.
Chelsea are winless in the Premier League since December 16th, and Jackson is a primary culprit. There is only so much the players behind him can do, he must finish those chances.
2. Robert Sanchez
It is a miracle when a match ends without Sanchez doing something reckless. On Tuesday, home fans witnessed both sides of his play. Several times, he put the team in danger with poor passes. In one instance, Sanchez passed the ball to Romeo Lavia, who was surrounded by three opposition players. Fortunately, Lavia managed to offload the ball just in time to avoid disaster. Later, Sanchez inexplicably passed straight to an opposition player, with no Chelsea teammate anywhere nearby.
The second goal from Bournemouth, scored by Semenyo, exposed the wide gap Sanchez left at the near post, a mistake eerily reminiscent of Gabriel Martinelli's goal for Arsenal at Stamford Bridge a few months ago. Despite these recurring errors, Enzo Maresca continues to start Sanchez. A handful of routine saves, expected of any goalkeeper, are far from enough to justify his continued inclusion.
In the second half, it became evident how frustrated the rest of the team was with Sanchez’s handling of the ball. It highlighted that it’s not just the fans who have grown tired of the Spaniard’s performances.
3. Tactics and Management of Enzo Maresca
Speaking of Maresca, the manager once again contributed to the result. Despite Chelsea falling 2-1 behind in the 68th minute, it took him until the 81st minute to make attacking changes. His supporters argue that the squad is not good enough, but it is his job to improve and develop the players. Ironically, the two substitutes were responsible for making the equalizer possible.
Throughout the match, Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke played as wingbacks, ceding possession to Bournemouth. Such tactics are typically used by weaker teams, making it baffling for a side aiming for a top-four finish, especially at home. At times, the players seemed directionless, which can only be attributed to Maresca.
Jackson continued missing chances yet played the full 90 minutes. Madueke was poor, apart from a couple of decent crosses, yet Maresca allowed him to stay on for over 80 minutes.
If Newcastle wins their game in hand, Chelsea will drop out of the top four. With Manchester City away soon, their top-four ambitions are slowly fading. The last five fixtures provided a perfect opportunity to solidify their position, but Chelsea has failed to win in a month. Just three points from 15 matches also highlight the issues with players including Jackson and Sanchez. Ultimately, Maresca continues to pick these players despite their performances.
4. Referee Robert Jones
When referees miss a foul and VAR intervenes to ask them to check, it usually means that it is a sending-off. Also, VAR cannot make decisions about yellow cards. On Tuesday, David Brooks literally clotheslined Marc Cucurella off the ball, which referee Robert Jones completely ignored despite being in his view. But for the first time, the referee decided to give just a yellow after checking the incident on the pitchside monitor. The action was described by VAR as a gift. Jones also ignored many yellow cards and a couple of second yellows for Bournemouth.
It is also worth remembering that Robert Jones was the referee when Nottingham Forest officially complained to the Premier League about his decisions, which caused them to lose a match against the same Bournemouth team he seemed to favor at Stamford Bridge incidentally.
Tuesday night was not the first time refereeing decisions have ruined Chelsea games recently. In their 0-0 draw against Everton, Malo Gusto was taken out by Jordan Pickford, which was not given as a penalty by both referee Chris Kavanagh and VAR Graham Scott. However, a VAR review later confirmed it should have been a penalty for Chelsea. Against Ipswich, the home side opened the scoring after Liam Delap dived for a penalty as he realized the ball was going out. Chelsea, who have had penalties not given for even severe touches, were once again hard done by a referee, in this case, John Brooks and VAR once again stood by the referee. Against Crystal Palace, Pedro Neto tackled inside the box. Even the Crystal Palace players had stopped moving, expecting a penalty. Still, to the surprise of everyone, Tim Robinson decided it was not a penalty, and VAR stood by him.
As always, fans can only do so much to protest against such refereeing injustices, while Chelsea, for some reason, remains silent. Chelsea has lost multiple cup finals and big matches due to Anthony Taylor, and he still gets to officiate matches involving the Blues.