3 reasons why Chelsea won vs Bournemouth

Better late than never. Chelsea had to wait a long time for their first goal but it was well worth the wait.

Maurizio Sarri made one change to his starting XI today – bringing on Willian for Pedro. The Brazilian was used as a substitute in the 2-1 win over Newcastle United last week.

Chelsea had numerous chances in the first half but were unable to convert any of them. Asmir Begovic, a former Chelsea player, was keeping them at bay with another former Blues player, Nathan Ake playing on Alvaro Morata's toes.

The goal finally came in the 72nd minute and that was enough for Chelsea. They shifted the gears and were dominating the game even more.

Despite having less than 20% of the possession, Bournemouth were not willing to sit back and defend. They were doing all they can to try and score on the counter but Antonio Rudiger was able to intercept most of the forward passes.

Just when Bournemouth were getting a grip on the game, Eden Hazard combined well with Marcos Alonso to make it 2-0 to Chelsea. That goal came in the 87th minute and there was nothing the visitors could do to salvage a draw.

Here are three reasons why Chelsea won today:

#3 Domination in the midfield

Regista

One thing Chelsea have been doing in every single game this season is dominating the midfield. That continued today and there was nothing Bournemouth could do to stop it.

Jorginho, as usual, was on the ball more often than now. He was commanding the players ahead of him and was orchestrating the flow of passes. He even started taking shots from 25 yards out today when Chelsea were unable to break the deadlock.

N'Golo Kante has adjusted brilliantly in his new role and he was running rings around the defenders. A new side of Kante has been brought out by Sarri and we are seeing him doing a little bit of trickery on the ball now.

As for Kovacic, he had a near perfect game. He was winning almost all the challenges and intercepting numerous passes. He was linking up well with Hazard and Alonso and that was enough for the Bournemouth defence to be out of position most of the time.

#2 Bournemouth missed too many chances

Eddie Howe

In a game dominated by Chelsea, Bournemouth had a couple of very good chances to go in front. Had they taken one of the few chances they got, the result of the game might have been different.

Callum Wilson had a glorious chance early in the first half to give the visitors the lead. However, his first-time effort went way over the bar from 7-8 yards out.

The best chance of the game went to Nathan Ake. The former Chelsea man saw the ball land on his feet from a corner but he somehow hit the ball over the bar from 3 yards out!

Fraser was let loose towards the end of the game when it was 1-1 but the winger's curled effort went well side of the post.

#1 Impact substitutions

Chelsea FC v AFC Bournemouth - Premier League

Willian and Morata were unable to do anything special for Chelsea on the pitch and Maurizio Sarri sent Giroud and Pedro on in their place. The substitutions helped Chelsea get past the Bournemouth defence even more and also get the edge over them finally.

Pedro and Giroud combined well to break the deadlock and that was enough to break Bournemouth's hopes of walking away from Stamford Bridge with a point. They exchanged some very good 1-2 passes and the visitors were unable to keep the substitutes quiet.

Giroud and Pedro might well be on course to start the next game. They have proved time and again that they are better than Morata and Willian right now.