Jordan Henderson rolls back the years as Chelsea blow away Bournemouth
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Jordan Henderson was the unlikely hero as Chelsea’s entertainers blew AFC Bournemouth away in a comprehensive and chaotic 5-1 win at Stamford Bridge.
Former Liverpool captain Henderson, 36, scored two and set up one for Morgan Rogers while Joao Pedro also hit the net twice for the rampant Blues.
Xabi Alonso’s side were two up inside three minutes to knock the stuffing out of a Bournemouth side still winless this season.
Their cavalier approach, to simply outscore their opponents, is unsustainable over a season, as evidenced by the three-game winless run before the international break which culminated in a torrid 3-0 defeat at Brentford.
True to form, after going 3-0 up they briefly gave Bournemouth a glimmer of hope by conceding a sloppy goal from a corner.
But further goals from Pedro and Henderson wrapped up a gloriously watchable romp in the October sunshine.
Cole Palmer, fresh from announcing he has signed a new contract until 2034, set the ball rolling when he sauntered forward unchallenged from the halfway line.
He swivelled in the penalty area and fed Henderson, who struck his shot first time in off the far post.
Chelsea attacked again straight from the kick-off and Pedro Neto was denied by Cherries keeper Djordje Petrovic before Henderson found Rogers, lurking on the left-hand side of the area.
The England star’s curler took a deflection off the head of Antonio Silva as it looped into the net, with just 149 seconds on the clock.
Shellshocked Bournemouth, who had lost just one of their previous 13 trips to London, eventually managed to regroup and almost pulled one back when Brazilian winger Rayan burst through.
He was denied by Blues keeper Emiliano Martinez, who reacted quickly to also keep out the follow-up from Ryan Christie.
But the Cherries were caught out by another lightning start by Chelsea at the beginning of the second half.
Just 40 seconds had elapsed when Neto skipped past Silva to the byline and pulled the ball back for Pedro to side foot home.
Five minutes later the Blues defence was breached when Moises Caicedo attempted to clear a corner off the goal-line only to see it ricocheted back off Evanilson and into the net.
But in the 67th minute Chelsea had a fourth. Rogers fed Pep Chavarria down the left and his cross was snaffled up by Pedro.
Henderson then completed the scoring with a superb, curling free-kick to put the gloss on an emphatic victory for the Blues.
PA
