Chelsea hits new low in loss to Bournemouth

LONDON — In a Premier League season where the usual narrative has been ripped up, there was no shortage of surprises on Saturday.

The tone for the day was set by Manchester City collapsing 2-0 at Stoke, with Leicester then seizing the opportunity to go to the top of the league by beating Swansea 3-0.

Leicester was struggling to avoid relegation last season, but now finds itself atop the standings — the exact opposite of Chelsea’s trajectory. The defending champion’s season sank to a new low when it lost 1-0 at home to promoted Bournemouth, an eighth defeat in 15 league games that leaves it just three points above the relegation zone.

Glenn Murray scored an 82ndminute winner after barely 90 seconds on the field as Bournemouth became the first Premier League newcomers to beat Chelsea since 2001.

“It must rank as the best individual result in the club’s history,” Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said.

Embattled Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho maintained the loss was undeserved and said the referee should have awarded a penalty before Bournemouth’s goal when Simon Francis handled.

“We dominated the game, but one refereeing mistake cost us,” Mourinho said.

While no one expects Chelsea to be a relegation candidate, the team is now 17 points behind Leicester and languishing in 14th place with Bournemouth only two points behind the champions.

Chelsea’s loss put Manchester United’s frustrations into perspective. United endured a fifth 0-0 draw in nine games in all competitions as West Ham held Louis van Gaal’s fourth-place team in check at Old Trafford.

Arsenal went to second by halting a three-game winless run with a 3-1 victory over Sunderland that saw Olivier Giroud score for both teams.

There was only one negative for Leicester. Jamie Vardy last weekend broke a Premier League record by scoring in his 11th consecutive match, but the striker missed out on equalling the all-time pre-1992 topflight mark of 12 games.

Also Saturday, Tottenham drew 1-1 at West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Southampton also drew 1-1, while Watford beat Norwich 2-0.