Bournemouth, Sep 17: Injury-hit Chelsea could not catch the break it badly needs in a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth on Sunday and stayed in the bottom half of the Premier League standings where it finished last season.
Chelsea twice had shots strike the frame of Bournemouth’s goal and the 51st-minute free kick by Raheem Sterling bounced down from the bar onto the goal-line. Though defender Levi Colwill followed up to put the ball in the net, he was ruled offside.
Nicolas Jackson’s shot in the 13th had struck the post after exchanging passes with Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk.
Chelsea needed goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to preserve the point with a save in the 79th from Dominic Solanke, the Bournemouth forward who started his career at the London club.
One day after two Premier League games were decided with goals deep into added time, Bournemouth and Chelsea could not find a goal in the eight minutes given them at the end of the second half. Time expired with Chelsea lacking urgency in attack and was met with some boos from its fans.
Chelsea now has just one win in five league games and is 14th in the league standings – a place below Manchester United and one above Bournemouth which has yet to win.
Injuries in the Chelsea squad – including captain Reese James, midfielder Moises Caicedo and forward Christopher Nkunku – meant despite the club’s USD 1 billion spending spree in the past year, coach Mauricio Pochettino filled his substitutes bench with teenagers yet to make their first-team debuts. (AP)
