Chelsea 2-1 Bournemouth: Player ratings as Caicedo stunner seals European football

A spectacular goal from Moises Caicedo helped Chelsea secure European qualification with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

The Blues had been in stunning form in recent weeks, picking up four consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since October 2022, and knew that victory would secure at least a top-six finish.

Caicedo’s wonderful goal from the halfway line set Chelsea on their way, before Raheem Sterling doubled the advantage for Mauricio Pochettino’s side just after the half-time interval. An own goal

An own goal from Benoit Badiashile offered Bournemouth a lifeline, but Chelsea held on at Stamford Bridge to finish their season in style.

How the game unfolded

Chelsea wasted no time in taking the game to Bournemouth, as Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer both had shots on Neto’s goal.

The Blues continued in the ascendancy and didn’t have to wait long before breaking the deadlock, albeit in an unusual circumstances. Neto came charging out of his goal to stifle Chelsea’s threat in behind, but his scuffed clearance only made it as far as Caicedo.

The Ecuadorian advanced into Bournemouth’s half and fired a sensational looped effort home from all of 50 yards – the first goal scored from that distance since Wayne Rooney netted for Everton against West Ham United in November 2017.

Antoine Semenyo and Marc Cucurella tussled soon after, with both players booked after the former threw the Spaniard to the ground, and Bournemouth then had an effort on goal through Justin Kluivert.

Just after half-time, Chelsea doubled their lead through Sterling, who jinked his way to the byline before somehow sliding the ball through Neto’s legs.

Rather than fold, Andoni Iraola’s side got back into the game immediately as Benoit Badiashile deflected Enes Unal’s effort past a helpless Djordje Petrovic.

The game drifted thereafter, though Dominic Solanke did waste a great chance for the visitors after rocketing an effort over Petrovic’s crossbar.

GK: Djordje Petrovic – 6/10 – Didn’t have much to do between the sticks but his ground passing was excellent.

RB: Trevoh Chalobah – 5/10 – Made some uncharacteristic mistakes as Chelsea struggled to maintain an efficient high line.

CB: Thiago Silva – 6/10 – Received plenty of adulation from Chelsea’s supporters, and marked the occasion by relentlessly arguing with Anthony Taylor.

CB: Benoit Badiashile – 3/10 – Seemed to be lacking confidence alongside his more senior partner. His unfortunate own goal didn’t help.

LB: Marc Cucurella – 6/10 – Performance level dipped compared to recent weeks but a decent enough outing.

DM: Moises Caicedo – 9/10 – Delivered a sensational goal to separate the two sides during the opening half. It marked his first league goal since September 2022, and what a way to do it.

DM: Conor Gallagher – 6/10 – Failed to provide the quality on the ball we’ve become accustomed to seeing.

RW: Noni Madueke – 6/10 – Relatively quiet and struggled to get into the game.

AM: Cole Palmer – 7/10 – With his assist for Sterling, Palmer became the first Chelsea player to be directly involved in 33 or more league goals in their debut season.

LW: Raheem Sterling – 8/10 – One of Sterling’s better performances of late and his goal turned out to be the winner.

ST: Nicolas Jackson – 7/10 – Quality movement gave Bournemouth’s defenders a rough ride all afternoon. Deserved a goal.

Substitutes

SUB: Malo Gusto (64′ for Madueke) – 6/10

SUB: Christopher Nkunku (64′ for Sterling) – 6/10

SUB: Lesley Ugochukwu (64′ for Caicedo) – 5/10

SUB: Cesare Casadei (88′ for Palmer) – N/A

Subs not used: Marcus Bettinelli (GK), Alfie Gilchrist, Axel Disasi, Levi Colwill, Carney Chukwuemeka.

Manager

Mauricio Pochettino – 7/10 – Ended his debut Chelsea season on a high, surely ending any speculation over his future.

GK: Neto – 5/10 – Gifted Caicedo the opportunity to open the scoring, though he still had plenty to do. Made some good stops thereafter.

RB: Max Aarons – 6/10 – Worked hard in what was a rare start at right-back.

CB: Illia Zabarnyi – 6/10 – Great positioning, great awareness, happens to always be in the right place at the right time.

CB: Marcos Senesi – 7/10 – Provided some quality underlapping runs and picked up his customary booking.

LB: Milos Kerkez – 8/10 – Impressive performance after coming back into the side. The next step for the 20-year-old is breaking his goal duck.

DM: Ryan Christie – 5/10 – Struggled to combat Chelsea’s quality in central midfield.

DM: Lewis Cook – 6/10 – The stronger performer in Bournemouth’s midfield, Cook still wasn’t able to offer much of an attacking threat.

AM: Justin Kluivert – 6/10 – Struggled to get into the game a bit and didn’t add much going forward for the Cherries. Replaced by Solanke to bolster the attack.

RW: Antoine Semenyo – 7/10 – Earned a silly booking but looked capable of scoring throughout.

LW: Marcus Tavernier – 6/10 – A mature performance from Tavernier, who will hope to earn more regular starts next season.

ST: Enes Unal – 7/10 – Got Bournemouth back into the game with his deflected shot and generally did well up front.

Substitutes

SUB: Dango Ouattara (59 ‘ for Tavernier) – 6/10

SUB: Dominic Solanke (59′ for Kluivert) – 7/10

SUB: Philip Billing (69′ for Unal) – 5/10

SUB: Alex Scott (70′ for Aarons) – 6/10

SUB: Lloyd Kelly (84′ for Senesi) – N/A

Subs not used: Mark Travers (GK), Adam Smith, James Hill, Romain Faivre.

Manager

Andoni Iraola – 5/10 – Made five changes to his regular squad, which proved a poor decision. But, has enjoyed a fantastic debut Premier League season.

Player of the Match: Moises Caicedo (Chelsea)

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