Chelsea into Europe after Caicedo’s goal from halfway cuts down Bournemouth

When Mauricio Pochettino sits down this week with Chelsea’s board for the review that will determine whether he continues as head coach, perhaps he can point to the fact that he has imbued his collection of young talents with so much confidence that European football was secured in part thanks to Moises Caicedo scoring from the halfway line.

It turns out that this is what £115m buys these days: crunching tackles, non-stop running and goal of the season contenders. Yet before merely looking at the extravagance of the spending, it is worth remembering that it has taken Pochettino’s coaching to knit everything together. This entertaining 2-1 win over Bournemouth was further proof that Chelsea, who will play in the Europa League rather than the Europa Conference League as long as Manchester City beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final, do not need more upheaval.

There is growth at Stamford Bridge. Nobody was booing Raheem Sterling when he scored the goal that secured sixth place for Chelsea, while nothing epitomises how the doubts are fading better than Caicedo’s improvement since his move from Brighton last summer. The midfielder started the campaign slowly and ended it by embarrassing Bournemouth’s goalkeeper, Neto, with his astonishing long-range goal.

Chelsea being Chelsea, though, there would still be flashes of frailty for Pochettino’s bosses to consider. Bournemouth, who finished 12th in Andoni Iraola’s debut season, halved the deficit after Benoît Badiashile’s own-goal and should have equalised deep into added time. Dominic Solanke could not believe that he fired over an open goal after Djordje Petrovic saved from Dango Outtara. Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, Chelsea’s controlling co-owners, may have wondered why Bournemouth were allowed to counterattack in the 94th minute.

Supporters reading the matchday programme found a long message from Chelsea’s ownership group that explained that making them proud will require the club to be “consistently winning or contending for the Premier League” and to be “consistently playing in the Champions League”, targets that Pochettino has not come close to reaching this season, perhaps explaining why he did not merit a mention in the piece.

For all the doubts hanging over his job, though, Pochettino can point to securing sixth place thanks to a run of five consecutive wins. These days, instead of turning Stamford Bridge into an arena of discontent, supporters are admiring pulsating attacking football and watching a defensive midfielder whose skillset is not confined to his ability to win possession.

Chelsea had assumed control long before Caicedo’s stunner in the 16th minute. They pinned Bournemouth back and could have scored twice inside three minutes. The dangerous Sterling was behind both openings, only Neto to save the first one from Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer to shoot narrowly wide with the second.

Bournemouth were already clinging on, the threats coming from all angles, the breakthrough down to Chelsea’s ability to break through the lines. Brilliant though Caicedo’s moment was, the move had started with Jackson spinning and sending Sterling through on goal.

Because of what followed, Chelsea were grateful that Jackson’s pass was marginally overhit. Neto came storming out of his area, produced a fine tackle and prepared to clear, only to be knocked off his stride by sudden pressure from Conor Gallagher and scuff the ball towards the halfway line.

Caicedo, as he tended to be all afternoon, was there to win possession. Encouraged to shoot, he took a touch, crept a couple of yards into Bournemouth’s half and channelled his inner David Beckham. Neto was stranded as the ball sailed over him and dipped under the bar.

Perhaps liberated by such a school’s out goal – Caicedo’s first for the club – both teams proceeded to allow a general air of silliness to descend. Chelsea became a little slapdash, their early intensity fading. Marc Cucurella and Antoine Semenyo were booked after a clash. Milos Kerkez was punished for diving. Bournemouth threatened, Marcus Tavernier and Ryan Christie going close to equalising.

Chelsea needed to wake up, particularly when Enes Unal missed another inviting chance at the start of the second half. Happily for Pochettino, the next attack proved telling. Palmer combined with Sterling, who drove into the area and scored with a shot that went in off the luckless Neto.

It should have been game over. Bournemouth decided otherwise when Cucurella allowed Kerkez’s cross to reach Unal in the 49^th minute. The striker hit a weak shot that struck Badiashile and looped over Petrovic.

There would be no clean sheet for Thiago Silva on his final appearance for Chelsea. It became nervy, Solanke shooting just wide after coming off the bench, and Pochettino decided to make a series of cautious substitutions after the hour. In the end, though, Petrovic’s late save from Christie ensured that Chelsea finished on a high. The question is what comes next.