Chelsea’s first game after the international break saw them edge Bournemouth 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday night. Christopher Nkunku scored a late winner for the Blues on the South Coast. Here are our talking points from the fixture.
Referee Anthony Taylor sets Premier League record for most yellow cards in a match
In terms of quality of football, this game wasn’t the greatest, but it will go down in the history books as the fixture with the most YC’s in Premier League history. Anthony Taylor issued a total of 14 yellow cards (six to Bournemouth, eight to Chelsea).
The bookings started in the 18th minute, with the first yellow card in this Bournemouth v Chelsea game going to Ryan Christie, and the last one to Semenyo in second-half stoppage time.
Players booked for Bournemouth: Smith, Senesi, Christie, Cook, Tavernier, Semenyo
Chelsea yellow cards v AFCB: Sanchez, Cucurella, Fofana, Colwill, Veiga, Jackson, Felix, Madueke
Sancho stars on Chelsea league debut
There were plenty of Chelsea fans with reservations when the Blues announced Jadon Sancho’s signing towards the end of the transfer window- another winger in a squad that has plenty of options in that position. The former Dortmund star made his CFC debut here as a half-time substitute for Pedro Neto and was a constant threat down the left flank after the interval.
He gave both Adam Smith and Julian Araujo a real working over, and most importantly, assisted Nkunku for the match winner.
Disasi disappointing
As good as Sancho was, there were several Chelsea starters that had an underwhelming game- key among them Axel Disasi in defence. He struggled as RB and was replaced shortly after the hour mark by Tosin.
Evanilson penalty miss for Bournemouth
Bournemouth had 19 shots to Chelsea’s 10, and probably deserved to get something out of the game. They had a golden chance to go ahead in the first half, but Evanilson missed from the penalty spot.
Pre game predictions for this AFCB CFC game saw most pundits say it would be difficult for Chelsea, and that was proved true at the Vitality Stadium.
