Chelsea came three points closer to the title on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
After a midweek win over Manchester City and with Victor Moses back at his disposal, Antonio Conte lined up the Blues in their usual 3-4-3 with Thibaut Courtois between the sticks, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill in front of him, Moses and Marcos Alonso at the wingback spots, N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic roaming centrally, Eden Hazard and Pedro as the inside forwards and Diego Costa as the first line of attack.
Chelsea previously beat the Cherries at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day by a score of 3-0. The final goal of that game was an own goal by Steve Cook in stoppage time at the end of the match.
Eddie Howe’s side picked up right where they left off as Chelsea’s first game came via an own goal by Adam Smith in the 17th minute. Diego Costa received the ball near the penalty spot, turned and fired a shot that looked to be heading miles high and wide before taking a deflection off Smith and finding the back of the net.
The Blues went 2-0 up three minutes later after a Cesc Fabregas-esque pass from Kante found Hazard in behind. Hazard dashed in, faked right and comfortably slid the ball past Artur Boruc.
The Cherries cut into Chelsea’s lead with three minutes to play before halftime, but Alonso put the game to bed with a goal from a free kick in the 68th minute.
Here’s what we learned from the win:
