Lampard’s Chelsea can’t stop wobbling
A RAINBOW spread over the Vitality Stadium in the second half and still Frank Lampard cannot help but plant his feet in pots of muck.
That seems to be Chelsea’s way at the moment, where every second step is either a wobble or a fall. This was merely a stumble, but irrespective of how Marcos Alonso dressed the windows with his late equaliser, the result was a continuation of a long-standing difficulty.
Chelsea quite simply cannot find a workable stride pattern. It is almost four months since they last recorded straight league wins.
When one goal went to Jefferson Lerma for 1-1, a second came soon after for Joshua King for 2-1. Those blips in concentration have become a troubling pattern.
Credit, though, for the Blues’ recovery. They were in horrible difficulty after giving up the lead from Alonso’s first-half strike, and at 2-1 down a familiar tale was playing out — for whatever reason, Eddie Howe is the stone that Chelsea cannot quite remove from their shoe. Three Bournemouth wins in the past four runs of this fixture was on the cusp of becoming four in five, before Alonso struck again with five minutes left.
‘You can be happy with the reaction and the fact that we score, but over the whole game I think we should win it,’ said Lampard.
‘Everyone wants to point at the defence. But at the same time, if you are going to create or have 23 chances, and balls flashing across the face, and chances where we need to stick it away, that’s what creates the nervousness.’
Chelsea could have gone down to some good chances that fell Philip Billing’s way, one of which was well saved by Willy Caballero, vindication of a fifth straight start over Kepa.
From there, the visitors stabilised and led through Alonso before their collapse early in the second half.
The first goal was purely a towering header from Lerma off a set-piece — Mateo Kovacic was beaten to the Ryan Fraser delivery but blame would be harsh.
The second, finished by King after a Jack Stacey’s ball across the box, survived a VAR referral, but three points ultimately became one when Alonso headed in a rebound after 15 minutes of solid Chelsea pressure.
Bournemouth manager Howe reflected: ‘We are not where we want to be in the table and it is going to be a battle but I am seeing signs that the team is ready for the challenge.’