You could see what the goal meant to Reece James as he roared with delight and ran off to celebrate. After two months out of Premier League action, our captain had just curled in a superb free-kick to salvage a point for his side. Stamford Bridge erupted.
It had been a somewhat frustrating night for the Blues squad and fans. They had seen their team completely dominate Bournemouth in the first half but only had Cole Palmer's early goal to show for it.
A Justin Kluivert penalty and Antoine Semenyo strike then saw the visitors go in front and it looked as though for all of our impressive play in the first half, we would be leaving the Bridge with nothing.
But as we entered the fifth minute of injury-time, just when Chelsea needed someone to stand up and deliver, our skipper did just that by curling in a great free-kick for 2-2.
James’ stunning set-piece marked his first Premier League goal since August 2022 and for the 25-year-old, the goal carried extra personal significance as he continues his journey back into the team following an injury setback earlier this season.
‘It was a great feeling to score and to score at home,’ James explained. ‘I wanted to help the team get some points in a difficult game. Injuries can happen at any time. There are many highs and many lows. I just hope I can stay healthy now.’
Describing the moment he rescued the point, James revealed his approach behind his expertly taken set-piece. He said: ‘I saw that the free-kick was close to the goal and I thought I saw a gap. I just tried to aim for that corner. The goal meant a lot and we’d rather take one point than none, even though we might’ve got three.’
Despite the heroic finish, the captain felt we could have come away with all three points after we enjoyed long spells of control during the contest.
‘It was disappointing to only take a point from the game,’ he continued. ‘We were dominating most of the game and we should’ve walked away with three points. Collectively as a team we had chances in the first half and sometimes in games when you don’t take the chances, the game goes on and they managed to get two goals.’
While disappointed with the final outcome, James highlighted areas of encouragement for the team to carry forward.
He added: ‘There are positives to take. The amount of chances we created for example. Anyone can beat anyone, we just have to put this game behind us now and take it game by game.’