Chelsea were victorious for the third game in a row now as they beat AFC Bournemouth 1-0 at Dean Court on Saturday evening. The Blues had the control of the match throughout the 90 minutes, but were only able to score once.
Eden Hazard’s quality finish from Alvaro Morata’s neat assist on the early stages of the second half was enough to give Chelsea the three points which they certainly deserved. But the Spaniard had even better chances to break the deadlock before Hazard, scoring another blank for the Blues.
Bournemouth keeper Asmir Begovic made a mistake with his passing on the first-half, handing Morata an easy-looking chance to square Chelsea up for 1-0. However, the former Real Madrid man turned his attempt just wide from the near post, as he seemed to take the opportunity with too much confidence. Minutes later he turned well away from the defender to fire on goal with his left, but was well denied by the former Chelsea goalie.
Morata did score a simple tap-in to the empty net before half-time, but it wasn’t count as Cesar Azpilicueta was ruled out for offside as he striked the ball on goal before the striker had his rebound effort.
The £70m summer signing is now suffering from a five-game goal drought, but in the post-match interview Antonio Conte said he’s not worried about Morata’s situation, especially because of his recent injury problems.
“I am happy with his commitment and desire, and will to fight. Don’t forget he is recovering from a muscular problem. I am very happy for his performance. A lot of time he recovered a very important ball in transition.”
Conte does admit that Chelsea should’ve been more clinical in front of the goal, as having to protect a 1-0 lead is always very risky.
“When you create chances to score it is right to take these chances. If you keep the result only 1-0 then you risk the draw. For us the win was very important, against Watford and then continue against Everton. Now to prepare in the best way in the Champions League. ”
– Antonio Conte
