Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was left frustrated by his players after they dropped more points in the Premier League – this time to Bournemouth.
The Blues took the lead through Cole Palmer, who sold Mark Travers for a dummy before slotting the ball into the back of the net early on.
But the Cherries rallied and won a penalty after Moises Caicedo took Antoine Semenyo down in the box.
Justin Kluivert stepped up and smashed his effort into the corner, sending Robert Sanchez diving the other way.
Semenyo was at it again 18 minutes later, dancing into the box before smashing an effort into the roof of the net.
Stamford Bridge fell silent, with Chelsea looking to be heading for a shock defeat on home turf.
But Reece James – returning from injury – rescued a point.
It ends all square at the Bridge.#CFC | #CHEBOU pic.twitter.com/5hZULVXJtF
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 14, 2025
The full-back buried a free-kick in the dying minutes to level the score at 2-2, although it is still not the result Chelsea will have wanted.
Speaking after the game, Maresca said: “I think first half we completely deserved to win the game. We should have scored three goals. When we conceded in the second half, we dropped. We deserved to win the game when we created so many chances.
“It was one of the best parts of the season in the first half. We were aggressive and the chances we created. We are a bit unlucky in scoring goals. We miss and then we concede. We need to continue. The bad thing as I said is that after the penalty, we drop and there is no reason we need to do that.
“The game was completely in our control and it’s something we need to improve.
“I have concerns always even when we are winning matches. This is the Premier League, when you don’t create chances and don’t score then you have to be more concerned.”
Reece James opened up on his return in a heartwarming interview, admitting he had been waiting for his moment and that he was delighted to mark his return with a goal.
He said: “It was great to get the point and we should have really put it out of sight but football is like that. If you don’t take your chances it can come back and hurt you.
“I am glad and honoured to be back representing this team and I am happy to be back to help the team. It was lonely and frustrating but I am really happy to be back helping the team.
“When we have played against the top teams we don’t shy away. We take it one game at a time and see where we will end up at the end of the season.”