Chelsea’s spluttering title push stalled again as Enzo Maresca’s side laboured to a lifeless 0–0 draw at Bournemouth, marking the first time since August that the Blues failed to score. For all their possession and territorial pressure, they rarely looked convincing, and the stalemate might easily have ended in defeat had Bournemouth shown a touch more composure in front of goal.
The hosts thought they had struck inside three minutes when Antoine Semenyo tucked the ball home, only for VAR to intervene with a razor-thin offside. Soon after, Evanilson produced one of the misses of the season, stabbing wide from almost on the goal line — an extraordinary chance that registered 0.85 on the expected goals scale and left the Vitality Stadium gasping.
Chelsea’s issues mounted when Liam Delap exited injured on the half-hour, clutching his arm and using his shirt as a makeshift sling after tumbling awkwardly in a tussle with Marcos Senesi. His withdrawal removed Maresca’s lone striker with a direct, powerful profile, and the decision to introduce Marc Guiu ahead of Joao Pedro raised eyebrows both in the stands and the dugouts.
Bournemouth began the second half with authority, Pedro Neto forcing Djordje Petrovic into a smart near-post save before Alejandro Garnacho rose at the far post and crashed a header against the upright. At the other end, Chelsea’s attacking efforts grew increasingly desperate. Guiu ballooned a glorious chance high into the stands from only a few yards out — a miscue that summed up the visitors’ day — and Cole Palmer, starting for the first time since September, was substituted after an ineffective hour.
Chelsea’s last three league results now read: draw with Arsenal, defeat at Leeds, and this goalless stalemate. The pattern is troubling. They remain in fourth place, but slip further behind Manchester City and Aston Villa, and their lack of cutting edge is beginning to look like a defining flaw rather than a temporary dip.
Bournemouth, winless in their past six Premier League outings, nevertheless left with encouragement. Their pressing was sharp, their organisation restored, and they carried far more incision than they did during their limp midweek defeat to Everton. They won the expected-goals battle, forced Chelsea backwards repeatedly, and created the more dangerous moments — all without finding the decisive touch.
As frustrations grow around Stamford Bridge, the narrative around Chelsea’s centre-forward dilemma hardens. Only one goal from the club’s starting striker across 14 league matches paints an alarming picture. With Delap now injured and Guiu still raw, Maresca has few solutions left within the squad, and it is beginning to cost them points.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, looked far closer to the energetic, fearless side that has defined Andoni Iraola’s tenure. Goals may be missing, but the structure and intensity appear to be returning — and on a different afternoon, this spirited, assertive performance would have earned them all three.
