Bournemouth 0 Chelsea 1: Super-sub Christopher Nkunku snatches late Blues win after assist from brilliant Jadon Sancho
JADON SANCHO took just 11 minutes to talk himself into trouble on his Chelsea debut.
He needed a little bit longer to make his presence felt with his feet but has immediately won over the Chelsea fans.
Sancho’s clever football brain set up Christopher Nkunku to bundle home an 86th minute goal massively against the run of play.
Digging out your new club with an assist right in front of the away end is the perfect way to get the rest of your career underway.
Even more so given Chelsea put on a dogs’ dinner of a show apart from the one moment of magic that secured three points.
Sancho arrived on loan from Manchester United late on transfer deadline day with a point to prove.
His most recent game was at Wembley in the Community Shield. Before that it was the Champions League final at the same ground.
Bournemouth’s tiny Vitality Stadium is a bit of a comedown but that would not have mattered as he heard the away supporters singing his name.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca describes him as ‘zero risk’ despite the public fallout between player and boss Erik ten Hag at Man United.
It didn’t look that way when he came on at half time and soon after was booked by trigger-happy referee Anthony Taylor for gobbing off over a free kick.
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In his defence, Taylor was working overtime, setting a new record of 14 bookings in one game, eight for Chelsea and six for The Cherries.
But then came Sancho’s tricky run down the left flank with just four minutes to go, mesmerising Bournemouth’s defence before cutting the ball inside for Nkunku to prod home a rare shot on target to snatch a fortunate win. And the referee was forgotten.
The goal celebrations underlined the sense of relief and frustration behind the result, with TV mics, advertising boards and anything else within range taking a battering as Nkunku blew up his trademark balloon to mark his goal.
Even so, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca knows he got away with it here. If it hadn’t been for keeper Robert Sanchez saving a penalty in the first half it could have been a grim night indeed.
The away fans were in no doubt who they blamed – with their now distasteful and boring abuse of Taylor no matter what he does.
It stems back to 2022 and a fiery clash between Chelsea and Tottenham and supporters have long memories – and nasty ones.
In reality it was the men in nondescript beige who deserved the stick for their underwhelming performance.
If they could finish better, defend with more composure and pass a little slicker they’d be a cracking team but it isn’t clicking yet despite the £217 million spent on reinforcements this summer.
With only two changes to the team which started the last Premier League game, against Crystal Palace, it wasn’t unreasonable to expect a cohesive Chelsea right from the off.
Yet it was anything but for the first half anyway, with Bournemouth well on top for the majority of the opening 45 minutes.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1835041274199474386Marcus Tavernier smashed a ferocious shot against the Chelsea crossbar inside the first four minutes and would go close again before the break.
Sanchez also had to save from Lewis Cook and Jason Kluivert.
In return when Levi Colwill put Nicolas Jackson clean through in the 34th minute, the striker, celebrating a nine year contract, shot straight at stand-in keeper Mark Travers’ legs.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola had ordered his players to target Chelsea’s Cole Palmer with some rough stuff, sensing the kick-ass paperweight forward as the real dangerman in their team.
Palmer hit the deck more times than a drunken pirate in the first half, leading to bookings for Ryan Christie and Cook.
And what it did was ramp up the temperature to make for a niggly but entertaining first half.
Chelsea full back Marc Cucurella was also cautioned for a brutal shove on Evanilson and Fofana for a similar offence.
Sanchez picked up a yellow for his karate chop on The Cherries’ marquee summer signing in the pivotal moment of the first half that summed up Chelsea’s dithering display.
Kluivert planted a header into the area and Fofana’s clumsy attempt to clear ended up with him miskicking wildly in front of his own goal.
Evanilson seized on the chance and having dinked the ball past Chelsea’s keeper was sent sprawling by a raised right arm, even if he did make as much of it as he could.
Chelsea ratings vs Bournemouth as Sanchez and Sancho are heroes... and Palmer struggles
CHELSEA needed a late moment of magic from Christopher Nkunku to snatch all three points from Bournemouth.
Marcus Tavernier crashed a super strike against the crossbar early on and Robert Sanchez saved an Evanilson penalty before the break.
Jadon Sancho came on for his debut at half-time and made the difference for the Blues as he set up Nkunku’s winner.
Here’s how SunSport’s Graham Nickless rated Maresca’s men…
Robert Sanchez – 8
Man-of-the-match show with first-half penalty save from Evanilson and a handful of excellent saves.
But rather fortunate to stay on the pitch after denying Evanilson a clear goalscoring opportunity with a deliberate foul that led to the spot-kick.
Axel Disasi – 5
The right-back was given an uncomfortable night down the right side.
Given the runaround by Cherries dangerman Antoine Semenyo and was replaced just after the hour.
Wesley Fofana – 6
Did his best to keep a clean sheet when run ragged by the home strikers.
Luckily for the centre-back, he could rely on Sanchez to keep them out.
Levi Colwill – 6
Did his best to calm the storm that came the Blues’ way for most of the match.
Made sure he kept record-signing Evanilson away from notching his first Premier League goal.
Marc Cucurella – 7
Always busy and making a nuisance of himself when he wasn’t being buffeted by Semenyo’s marking.
But overdid it with one stupid, deliberate shoulder barge on the Bournemouth winger.
Renato Veiga – 5
Suffered like most of his team-mates to open up the home side’s defence.
The Portuguese midfielder didn’t see enough of the ball to make an impact.
Moises Caicedo – 7
The captain was always looking for that defence-splitting pass when he wasn’t on defensive duty.
Gave an example to others around him who weren’t putting in a decent shift.
Noni Madueke – 5
Was quite mad attempting an early shot at the home goal that ended up as a throw-in.
And it didn’t get much better than that for the winger who was hauled off just after the hour.
Cole Palmer – 5
Rested by England for tired muscles and there wasn’t much energy in this performance.
But the Cherries, worried by his reputation, did target him in the first half.
Pedro Neto – 5
Failed to make any impact on the wing but could claim he had little or no service.
Boss Maresca had seen enough and brought on Sancho to replace him at half-time.
Nicolas Jackson – 5
Chelsea fans won’t want to suffer another nine years of this from the big striker.
Had one shot comfortably saved and another blocked but will need to show more upfront for his ludicrous long contract.
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Jadon Sancho (for Neto) – 8
Was booked 11 minutes after coming on then, looked likely throughout second half and set up Nkunku’s equaliser on super debut.
Tosin Adarabioyo (for Disasi) – 6
Was seldom troubled.
Joao Felix (for Madueke) – 5
Tidied up in midfield.
Christopher Nkunku (for Jackson) – 8
Burst through three players to score and snatch the winner.
Taylor pointed to the spot, ignoring the howls from the Chelsea players and the cat-calling from the nearby away end in a frenzied atmosphere.
Evanilson, yet to score for his new club, looked uneasy from the off though and after hesitating curled a weak shot that Sanchez pawed to safety, thus redeeming himself in the process.
He became a hero in the second half when again facing an onslaught against the underdogs, the big keeper got enough of a hand to Christie’s first time shot to tip it onto the foot of the post when it looked goalbound.
Maresca was clearly not happy and started tinkering with his team early on.
Sancho came on at half time and by the hour mark, he had made three changes in total as he tried to fathom out a way to first contain Bournemouth and then try to turn the tide and win.
It wasn’t exactly an inspired set of substitutions, more done out of desperation, but it worked and Chelsea snatched it at the death.