It had been more than six weeks since Chelsea had taken to the pitch for a competitive fixture, due to the break for the winter World Cup, but there were no signs of rustiness as the Blues made a flying start to our final match of 2022.

• Watch all the highlights from our win over Bournemouth

• Potter provides an update on James' injury

• Havertz: Let's build on this

It was two goals in the first half which set us on our way to a 2-0 win, with Kai Havertz turning in Raheem Sterling’s low ball across goal from close range before Mason Mount doubled our lead with a precise curling shot into the bottom corner from outside the box.

Bournemouth did pose more of a challenge in the second half, forcing us to defend more, but our lead never looked under threat and it was the Blues who could have scored again, when Christian Pulisic found the net but saw it ruled out for an alleged foul by Havertz in the build-up.

Wide men combine

It was down Chelsea’s right flank that much of our good work came, especially during the impressive first 45 minutes. That was helped by a great performance by Sterling, who troubled Bournemouth throughout, and the return of Reece James from a knee injury, the latter underlining why he has been such a big miss for Graham Potter and why our head coach will be hoping the problem which forced the England international off after 50 minutes of this game is not too serious.

Potter had previously said he was keen to get Sterling as wide and as far forward as possible, to allow the winger to do his best work, and the 4-3-3 formation we lined up in against the Cherries certainly seemed to achieve that aim. Out on the right, the average positions showed Sterling to be Chelsea’s most advanced player, with James close behind him providing support and overwhelming the Bournemouth defence on that wing.

The success those two enjoyed as they surged forward and ran their opponents ragged is clear from the fact that 43 per cent of Chelsea’s attacks came down our right side, compared to just 24 per cent in the middle of the pitch. It was also notable that nobody on the pitch attempted more tackles than Bournemouth’s left-sided wing-back Jordan Zemura.

It did not seem to do Zemura any good, though, as Sterling in particular remained a constant threat to Bournemouth on our right, with no-one managing more than our No.17’s two successful dribbles or three key passes. That included the assist for the opening goal, while our second also originated from Sterling carrying the ball forward at pace on the right.

Perhaps most tellingly, nobody provided more than James’ five crosses into the box and he was closely followed by Sterling on four. Even Cesar Azpilicueta, who replaced James at right-back in the 52nd minute to equal Petr Cech's 494 Chelsea appearances - a record for a foreign player - joined in the fun. Mount was the only other Blues player to surpass his two crosses, although Azpilicueta was the most accurate crosser on the pitch, with both his efforts finding a team-mate in the box.

Defend as a team

In contrast, on the other side of the pitch, Marc Cucurella and Christian Pulisic were combining to keep Bournemouth at bay, with the American showing a more reserved position on the left as he backed up his team-mate before racing out of deep positions to join the attack.

In addition to Pulisic’s deeper position, it was also clear that most of Bournemouth’s threat for large parts of the game came down our left by the fact Cucurella made more tackles (four) than any other Chelsea player.

Next behind the Spaniard was Mount with three tackles, as he once again led our press and typified the philosophy of defending as a team, as every Chelsea man played their part in winning back possession when we lost it.

Perhaps the best example of how the more attacking players are happy to get their hands dirty is Havertz, who is often tasked with defending our front post at set-pieces. It was a role he fulfilled admirably, given that is where a lot of Bournemouth’s threat originated – five of their nine shots came from set-pieces – with only Thiago Silva (six) making more than Havertz’s four clearances for the Blues.

Zakaria makes his case

Denis Zakaria has had to wait patiently for his chances since joining Chelsea on loan from Juventus this season, but having impressed on his Champions League debut for the club the Swiss international took his opportunity well again on his first Premier League start.

While it may not have been as spectacular this time around, after scoring the winning goal against Dinamo Zagreb, his contribution to beating Bournemouth was still important, as he helped contain the threat of the Cherries’ counter-attack.

Alongside Jorginho in midfield, Zakaria sat notably deeper than his partner, at times almost in line with our defence, while still managing to surge forward to help the attacks, as seen for our second goal.

It was the way he often shifted over to the right to cover the space behind the rampaging James that was arguably most important, though, shielding Kalidou Koulibaly until our right-back recovered into his defensive position, before shifting across back into midfield to help Jorginho and Mount hunt the ball.

With N’Golo Kante unavailable since August due to injury, Zakaria is starting to show he can provide Potter with something different in midfield due to his energy and defensive prowess, as opposed to the more possession-based qualities of Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.