Chelsea boss Frank Lampard can finally rest easy on the Stamford Bridge touchline after breaking his managerial duck for the second time as Blues boss thanks to a 3-1 win during the club’s away day on the south coast against Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium.
Late goals in the dying embers of the second half from Benoît Badiashile and substitute João Félix sealed all three points as Chelsea finally got back to winning ways with a possible top-half finish still in sight.
FT: Bournemouth 1 Chelsea 3. #CFC get their first win under Frank Lampard and are… officially safe! 🙃
Conor Gallagher with a strong header. Benoit Badiashile with his first Chelsea goal. And Joao Felix also on the scoresheet with a much-needed strike.🔵 pic.twitter.com/IIDJXGH4ZN
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) May 6, 2023
On an afternoon where Chelsea was expected to return to the capital with an away win, the first half offered a timely reminder that the situation in west London is far from ideal under Lampard’s temporary leadership despite club academy product Conor Gallagher opening the scoring with a 9th-minute header courtesy of a N’Golo Kanté ball into the box from the right-side channel.
The scoreline coming into the halftime interval would end up reflecting what was an even affair across ninety minutes after Cherries left-back Matías Viña found an equalizer in the 21st minute after a lovely bit of simple-touch football presented the Uruguayan international with enough space to hit a bending effort past Kepa Arrizabalaga into the far post top corner.
It was not until the final ten minutes of normal time that Chelsea restored their lead through January signing Benoît Badiashile in the 82nd minute when the big French defender hit home his first league goal since his arrival from AS Monaco. Portuguese international star João Félix, who had come into proceedings as a second-half sub in the 84th minute, needed just two minutes to find Chelsea’s third on the afternoon with a much-needed deft one-touch finish to seal all the points on offer.
That result sees the Blues end their six-match skid under Lampard and back into the win column, though it was not enough to see them climb back into the top half of the table as of yet.
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