Early goals have been a defining feature of the early season, and we dialed up that habit to eleven today, with not one but two goals inside the first three minutes.
Jordan Henderson opened the scoring with barely a minute on the clock, after Cole Palmer was allowed to run half the length of the pitch before setting up our veteran midfielder for his first ever Chelsea goal. And what a strike it was from a man not really known for goalscoring!
We barely finished celebrating when Morgan Rogers picked
out the far corner with a cheeky dink, after Pedro Neto forced a good save from former Chelsea goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović. Two minutes and 29 seconds had elapsed from kickoff, though we did have to wait nearly as long for Rogers’ goal to be confirmed by VAR.
Both teams were happy to take a breath after that start, though Chelsea did fashion a couple more chances (Henderson coming close again) while Bournemouth threatened a couple times through the speedy Rayan. But we’d head into the break at 2-0, with Chelsea looking composed and perhaps on course for a rare clean sheet.
Another fast start saw us increase the lead to 3-0 as Neto set up João Pedro for an emphatic finish just a minute into the second half, but that unfortunately also led to us relaxing a bit too much and Bournemouth got on the scoresheet as well a few minutes later. It was a scruffy goal from a corner scramble, but it’s yet another set piece goal conceded by the Blues.
The visitors had their tails up and were looking to reduce their deficit further, but thankfully a flowing move through Rogers and Pep Chavarría was finished off by JP once again to restore the three-goal lead, before Henderson produced a lovely free kick to make it 5-1 with 20 minutes still to play. Absolute goal machine!
Hendo’s goal effectively ended the match as a contest, with both sides making a multitude of changes but happy to play out the remaining minutes as a training exercise.
Carefree.
- Back-three of Colwill, Lacroix, Acheampong
- Welcome back, Moisés Caicedo! Paired with Henderson in midfield
- Marco Palestra makes his debut finally
- Two goals in the first 2:29 is apparently only the third fastest in league history
- JP on five goals now, level with Erling Haaland for most in the Premier League; Rogers just one behind one four goals
- Assists for Palmer, Henderson, Neto, Chavarría
- Will we ever keep a clean sheet? 22 in a row in the league without one
- No team have conceded more goals than Chelsea in the league (13); only Brighton (17) have scored more (15)
- Next up: Everton away, next Saturday
- KTBFFH
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