Chelsea 0-1 Bournemouth: Lacklustre Blues lose again as Cherries end dire run
JOE KRISHNAN 
Saturday 14 December 2019 17:52 

Dan Gosling's late strike awarded by VAR condemned a below-par Chelsea side to a 1-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.

Frank Lampard's side were looking to extend the gap between themselves and the top-four chasing back to eight points after qualifying for the last-16 of the Champions League.

Mount had the game's first big chance, chesting down Azpilicueta's cross and striking towards goal only to see Aaron Ramsdale make a smart stop.

His England team-mate Tammy Abraham went close minutes later, swinging a volley into the side netting from Cesar Azpilicueta's cross.

In a first half of end-to-end action but very few clear-cut chances, the 22-year-old should have broken the deadlock in first-half stoppage time. Willian curled in a corner and the towering striker headed over from close range.

Neither side mustered a shot at goal in the opening quarter of an hour of the second half, but Bournemouth missed perhaps their best chance of the game when Josh King's square ball missed Lewis Cook by a matter of inches.

Frank Lampard made a double change with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mateo Kovacic coming on for Christian Pulisic and Willian.

And the 18-year-old had an instant impact when his cross caused havoc in the Bournemouth area. After a series of headers, it came to Emerson at the far post and he somehow headed straight at Ramsdale.

The miss would prove costly because with six minutes remaining, Jefferson Lerma's header in the box found Dan Gosling in the area. With his back to goal, he dinked it over Kepa

and the flag was raised. But when VAR checked the angles, the midfielder was clearly onside and the decision therefore overturned.

Chelsea struggled to truly test Ramsdale - other than a long-range strike from Kovacic - in the final moments as the Blues fell to a second home defeat in three games.