Chelsea earned their best win yet under Xabi Alonso as they won 5-1 at home to Bournemouth.
Jordan Henderson, 36, led the charge for the Blues, who were 2-0 up after two minutes and 29 seconds.
Henderson and Joao Pedro both scored twice each, and there was a further goal from Morgan Rogers in a game Chelsea never looked like they would fail to win.
Dom Smith was at Stamford Bridge to rate the Chelsea players’ performances…
Emi Martinez 7
Made some important saves and some good claims from crosses as Chelsea won in the league again at long last.
Josh Acheampong 7
Really impressive performance from the England Under-21 international, who took down one high ball and played back to Martinez to relieve the pressure. Kept his composure.
Maxence Lacroix 7
Got himself on the end of so many of Bournemouth’s crosses to block and clear. Great in the air.
Levi Colwill 6
Didn’t quite have the aerial dominance of Lacroix but kept his concentration on an important afternoon for Chelsea.
Pedro Neto 7
Worked hard, as ever, at right wing-back and got his reward with a tackle by the by-line and unselfish cross to assist Joao Pedro just after the restart.
Moises Caicedo 7
Came back from injury and was immediately noticeable, racing into tackles and calming things down in the middle of the park.
Jordan Henderson 9
What a home debut. Scored a sensational opener and then a sublime free-kick and, in between them, put in an outstanding midfield performance. Exceptional. 36 years of age.
Pep Chavarria 7
Another trademark scampering performance from the left wing-back, including a peach of a cross for Joao Pedro’s second goal.
Morgan Rogers 7
Took up good positions and scored the early second goal with a hoick that was nodded in by a Bournemouth defender but was on its way in anyway.
Cole Palmer 7
On the day his new contract was announced, he worked hard and his movement was first rate. Assisted Henderson’s opening goal.
Joao Pedro 8
Two goals more for Chelsea’s ruthless No9. The second was a confident finish, the first an arrow into the roof of the net.
Subs:
Romeo Lavia (Caicedo, 72’) 6
Settled things down in the middle of the park and brought some of the crunching tackles Caicedo had made.
Marco Palestra (Joao Pedro, 72’) 5
Will need to feel his way in at Chelsea, where he was subdued on his debut.
Danny Welbeck (Neto, 84’) N/A
Estevao (Rogers, 84’) N/A
Malo Gusto (Palmer, 88’) N/A
Not used: Penders, Fofana, Hato, Quenda