Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca said Reece James deserved his moment after his free-kick rescued a point in the fifth minute of stoppage time against Bournemouth. The captain continued his comeback from a hamstring injury as a second-half substitute and rifled in the goal at the death that made it 2-2, but nevertheless Maresca saw his side’s winless run in the Premier League stretch to five games.
It was James’ first league goal since he netted in a draw with Tottenham in August 2022, as he marked his return to the side in a league game for the first time since November. “He deserved it after a difficult moment and it gave us the point,” said Maresca.
“I’m happy for him and happy for us. The target for him now is to try to be fit until the end (of the season) and he’s going to help us for the way we want to play.”. Chelsea had enough first-half chances to finish Bournemouth with Nicolas Jackson at fault for spurning the best of them.
Before that he had set up the opening goal for Cole Palmer, producing an intelligent turn on the ball to escape three Bournemouth players before producing the perfect pass for Chelsea’s top scorer to run on to and slot home. The Senegal striker then struck a post and later blasted over from six yards with the goal gaping.
Bournemouth took full advantage of Jackson’s profligacy in the second half, levelling through Justin Kluivert’s penalty before Antoine Semenyo made it 2-1, beating young defender Josh Acheampong then sending a rocket inside Robert Sanchez’s near post.
