Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea: Mauricio Pochettino’s men drop more points as as they fail to make their chances pay once again
Chelsea suffered more frustration in front of goal as they were held to a goalless draw by Bournemouth.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men failed to find the net for the second leg despite creating chances at the Vitality Stadium.
And they closed out the match courtesy of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez for two excellent saves, making this a more expensive trip to the south coast.
Chelsea have now played just one of their opening five league games, at home to new signings Luton.
Bournemouth are still waiting for the first three points under new manager Andoni Iraola, but this was better for them than Chelsea.
The first half quickly settled into a familiar pattern for Chelsea: they were dominant but lacked sharpness in front of goal to take advantage of all their possession and had to be on their toes to switch off at the other end.
Enzo Fernandez fired their first warning with a sliding shot in the second minute before Mykhailo Mudryk, on his first start of the season, charged to the byline, crossed and Conor Gallagher’s attempt to turn the ball home was deflected.
Raheem Sterling pulled a shot wide of target and Chelsea then created one of their best chances of the half.
Mudryk and Jackson linked up well and the latter collected the Ukrainian’s back pass, drove towards goal and shot against the post.
When Bournemouth first threatened it might have resulted in them taking the lead. The opportunity was that great. Chelsea were not alert to a quick free kick from Bournemouth and Ryan Christie got away through the right channel.
He slid a ball across the slick, sodden surface to the back post where the recalled Dango Ouattara was waiting.
He was unnoticed in space and looked certain to score, but Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez flew over the goal, at his full height and with everything he had, making him big enough to block brilliantly.
His save was matched by a reaction at the other end from Neto to deny Gallagher, keeping the score level at half-time.
Chelsea thought they had opened the scoring six minutes into the second half. Mudryk was fouled on the edge of the penalty area by Max Aarons, giving Chelsea a free-kick that Sterling deflected against the woodwork.
When the ball crashed it was just millimeters from the line, but Levi Colwill followed with a low finish to ensure the ball did cross the line.
Unfortunately for Chelsea and the young defender, the celebration of his first Blues goal was cut short as he was flagged for offside.
There followed a period of Bournemouth pressure, with Lewis Cook shooting straight at Sanchez and a few moments where Chelsea had to defend a bit desperately to keep the ball out.
A stoppage in play disrupted Bournemouth’s flow, allowing Chelsea to settle down and they were soon back in the lead.
Substitute Cole Palmer was quickly involved, earning a corner when his attempt to squeeze a shot through Lloyd Kelly’s legs led to a Chelsea corner.
From there, Jackson reached the opposite byline and pressed in a low cross that caused panic and a mini-scramble, although Neto was able to flap the ball away from the lurking Colwill.
As the match entered the final twenty minutes the balance remained in the balance and for all their continued dominance, Chelsea’s inability to score left them vulnerable, while Bournemouth received encouragement.
Justin Kluivert created a promising situation with a cross from the right, but Dominic Solanke’s bicycle kick attempt seemed to distract teammate Marcus Tavernier.
Philip Biling’s free kick went wide and Solanke scored another brilliant stop from Sánchez.
He collected Biling’s cutback and fired home through Chelsea’s bodies.
Sánchez had dived, anticipating the shot to the left, but stuck out his right leg to keep the ball out.
Shortly afterwards, Solanke headed past another attempt.
Chelsea came back on the attack. Palmer led a break and appeared to overhit his pass wide of Sterling, but he managed to dig out a cross and pass the ball back to his former Manchester City teammate.
Palmer made good contact with it on the volley, but Neto raised an arm to keep the ball out.
Ian Maatsen unsuccessfully appealed for a penalty after his follow-up volley was blocked.
So did Bournemouth when Solanke’s header struck Axel Disasi before the match came to an end.