Chelsea boosted their top four hopes as they resumed their Premier League season with a comfortable victory over Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Having failed to score in three consecutive games before the World Cup break, it took less than 16 minutes for Chelsea to get up and running as Kai Huertz slid in at the back post from Raheem Sterling’s low cross.
With the hosts dominating, Mason Mount celebrated his 150th appearance for Chelsea, firing a superb effort into the bottom right corner of the Bournemouth net from the edge of the penalty area.
He drew satisfaction from manager Graham Potter, who will have been delighted with the smart performances he put in, particularly during the first half.
Christian Pulisic saw an effort disallowed when Huertz was adjudged to have fouled Adam Smith, while the German also wasted a chance to extend Chelsea’s lead in the second half.
The result saw Chelsea move up to eighth in the table, six points behind fourth-placed Tottenham and Bournemouth in 14th.
The only downside to the Potters and Chelsea’s evening came with the unscheduled withdrawal of Reece James, seven minutes into the second period, on his return from the knee injury that ruled him out of the England squad for Qatar.
The 23-year-old lay on the turf with his head in his hands before receiving treatment and eventually walked unaided.
While the Cherries improved after the break, and substitute Ryan Christie forced home goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga into a fine save, they rarely looked able to put pressure on the hosts late on.
Chelsea took a step forward.
Chelsea came into the competition with question marks over the direction of travel under Potter after a damaging run of three consecutive top-flight defeats before the World Cup.
However, they appeared galvanized and looked as if the chance to reset worked in their favour.
There was a remarkable fluidity to their play, particularly through combinations provided by Sterling, James, Mount and Italian playmaker Jorginho, while Havertz and Pulisic worked tirelessly to offer an outlet.
And by the time he was forced out, all that right-wing James had produced.
His marauding drive down the right gave Chelsea an extra dimension in attack, only to be denied by visiting goalkeeper Mark Travers just before the break.
A slow start hurt Bournemouth
Dominic Solanke’s driving run and early Philip Billing free-kick suggested Bournemouth felt capable of taking the game to Chelsea on their own patch.
However, while Gary O’Neill will take positives from the way his side prevented the scoreline from getting further away from them in the second half, he will be disappointed by his ineffective first 45 minutes.
In that period they conceded their 33rd and 34th goals of the campaign, 26 of which have now come away from home.
Chelsea’s opener came from a series of straight passes down the right, leaving Huertz unchallenged as he opened the scoring, while Mount was given the time and space to score as Bournemouth four men behind. Moved away.
