Maresca 'concerned' as Chelsea winless run stretches to five games

LONDON - Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca expressed his concern at the Blues' reaction to conceding in a 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth as their winless Premier League run stretched to five games on Tuesday.

Maresca's men looked destined to end that slump with a dominant first-half display at Stamford Bridge.

But Cole Palmer's cool finish for his 14th Premier League goal of the season was all the home side had to show for it at the break.

Bournemouth bounced back in the second half as Justin Kluivert levelled from the penalty spot before Antoine Semenyo blasted in at the near post to put the Cherries in front.

Chelsea captain Reece James came off the bench to salvage a point in stoppage time with a fine free-kick.

But Chelsea could now drop out of the Premier League top four should in-form Newcastle beat Wolves on Wednesday.

"I think we deserved much more, especially in the first half," said Maresca. "The negative thing is that we changed how we played after conceding. We dropped back.

"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."

James has suffered another injury-plagued season that has restricted the 25-year-old to just four starts in all competitions.

And he revelled in a moment to savour in stoppage time after such a long time on the sidelines.

"There was a period where I was scoring quite frequently and I haven't had that feeling for quite a long time," said James.

However, he echoed Maresca's words on Chelsea needing to be more ruthless to reach their target of a return to Champions League football next season.

"I think we had a few clear-cut chances that we should have taken in the first half and put the game to bed.

"It's across football globally, if you have chances and you don't take them then it can come back and hurt you." - AFP