Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was left frustrated with his players after they dropped further points in the Premier League, this time against Bournemouth.
The Blues took the lead through Cole Palmer, who sold Mark Travers for a dummy before putting the ball into the back of the net early on.
But the Cherries recovered and won a penalty after Moisés Caicedo brought down Antoine Semenyo in the area.
Justin Kluivert stepped forward and crashed his attempt into the corner, sending Robert Sanchez diving the other way.
Semenyo was at it again 18 minutes later, dancing inside the box before smashing a shot into the roof of the net.
Stamford Bridge fell silent, with Chelsea looking set for a shock home defeat.
But Reece James, returning from injury, rescued a point.
It ends all square on the Bridge.#CFC | #CHEBOU pic.twitter.com/5hZULVXJtF
– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 14, 2025
The winger scored a free kick in the final minutes to level the score at 2-2, although it is still not the result Chelsea would have wanted.
Speaking after the match, Maresca said: “I think in the first half we deserved to win the match. We should have scored three goals. When we conceded in the second half, we lost. We deserved to win the game when we created so many opportunities.
“The first half was one of the best parts of the season. We were aggressive and created opportunities. We have a bit of bad luck when it comes to scoring goals. We fail and then we concede. We need to continue. The bad thing, as I said, is that after the penalty we go down and there is no reason for us to do that.
“The game was completely under our control and it is something we have to improve.
“I always have concerns, even when we win games. This is the Premier League, when you don’t create opportunities and you don’t score then you have to be more worried.”
Reece James spoke about his return in a moving interview, admitting he had been biding his time and was delighted to mark his return with a goal.
He said: “It was great to get the point across and we really should have hidden it, but that’s football. If you don’t take risks, it can come back and hurt you.
“I am happy and honored to represent this team again and I am happy to help the team again. It was lonely and frustrating, but I’m very happy to be helping the team again.
“When we have played against the best teams we don’t get scared. “We take it game by game and we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season.”
