Wednesday is a night to remember for both players, management and fans of AFC Bournemouth after going against all odds to Stamford bridge to pick maximum 3 points against highly rated EPL defending champions, Chelsea.
Bournemouth, who had not won away since a 1-0 victory at Newcastle on 4 November, deserved their win, punishing a Chelsea side that were unusually poor in defence to pull off one of the shock results of the season.
A mistake from Bakayoko enabled Wilson to score his seventh Premier League goal of the season, and the Cherries nearly doubled their lead two minutes later when Lewis Cook shot just wide.
Chelsea had kept clean sheets in five of their past seven games, but there was no sign of that organisation when Wilson slid a pass through the middle of the home defence – with both Cesar Azpilicueta and Gary Cahill out of position – and Stanislas doubled the lead.
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Just three minutes later it was 3-0 as Stanislas was given space to shoot and Ake reacted fastest to divert the ball into the net.
The result matched Chelsea’s defeat at Roma in the Champions League on 31 October, and was also the joint-heaviest defeat of Conte’s two-and-a-half-year spell in charge.
The game came only a few hours after Giroud had moved from Arsenal, while Chelsea loaned Michy Batshuayi to Borussia Dortmund until the end of the season.
However, Giroud’s move was not completed in time for him to play, and with Alvaro Morata and Willian both injured, Conte went with a makeshift front three of Pedro, Eden Hazard and Ross Barkley.
It did not prove to be a successful selection – Chelsea did not have a shot on target in the first half and the ineffective Barkley, making his first Premier League appearance since a £15m move from Everton, was substituted after 54 minutes.
Hazard, a constant threat, was at the heart of most of the hosts’ attacking moves and they enjoyed a good spell just before half-time as Cahill and Marcos Alonso both headed narrowly off target.
Hazard and Pedro forced saves from Asmir Begovic in the second half, and Chelsea appealed in vain for a penalty when Pedro’s header hit the arm of Ake at close range.
But the lack of a recognised striker was clear, with Conte later saying: “I didn’t see a centre-forward today.”
He will hope Giroud will make the difference. During his five-and-a-half-year spell at Arsenal, the 31-year-old France international scored 105 goals in 253 games, but he has started only one league game in 2017-18.
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