Overview
- All four goals arrived in the opening 27 minutes, with Cole Palmer converting a VAR-awarded penalty and Enzo Fernández scoring before Bournemouth twice profited from long throws through David Brooks and Justin Kluivert.
- Home supporters loudly jeered Enzo Maresca for replacing Palmer around the hour mark, and frustration grew again at full-time after Chelsea failed to find a winner.
- Maresca skipped post-match media duties due to illness, leaving assistant Willy Caballero to address reporters and defend the decision to manage Palmer’s minutes.
- Caicedo’s early yellow card was his fifth of the season and triggers a one-match ban that rules him out of Sunday’s visit to Manchester City.
- Teenager Estêvão Willian was Chelsea’s brightest threat, while Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo—central to the long-throw menace—is reportedly being targeted by Manchester City in a £65m move that has not been confirmed.