Alonso rescues a point for Chelsea

Bournemouth 2 Chelsea 2

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Marcos Alonso’s late header salvaged a point for Chelsea after they squandered a half-time lead.

Frank Lampard’s side had recovered from a slow start to lead at the break through Alonso’s close-range strike.

But with Chelsea increasingly in control and looking likely to add a second, Bournemouth levelled when Jefferson Lerman Lerma outjumped the defence to powerfully head home direct from a corner.

And there was a second home goal three minutes later, Jack Stacey crossing for Josh King to tap in at the far post.

Chelsea slowly regained their composure and piled forward in search of an equaliser, which came when Alonso headed in after Pedro’s initial shot was saved by Aaron Ramsdale.

A point was the least Chelsea would have expected after surviving a bright start by Bournemouth which saw them waste three good chances.

Philip Billing twice went close to putting the Cherries ahead, first with a side-footed effort that was well blocked by keeper Willy Caballero following a fine move, and then shooting wide after Fikayo Tomori’s defensive mistake.

Caballero also had to make a decent reaction save to thwart Callum Wilson netting from close range.

But Chelsea then began to dominate possession and Ramsdale had to an ugly save to keep out Mason Mount’s dipping volley from the edge of the area.

Alonso’s strike, crashed in after Olivier Giroud’s shot hit the bar following a lovely one-two between Reece James and Jorginho, put Chelsea ahead on 33 minutes and there were numerous close calls for an increasingly under-pressure home defence thereafter.

Giroud made a mess of a great shooting chance to make it 2-0 the after the interval and the lead was soon turned into a 2-1 deficit.

Chelsea slowly regained composure, with Willian, Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi all coming on.

Batshuayi did find the net with a tidy finish but was rightly ruled offside while Barkley and Mount both went close before Alonso earned a draw with his fourth goal of the season.

Alonso could have won it late on, but headed wide when well placed.

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