sport news Chelsea's season of two halves ends with a European place guaranteed but will ... trends now
Mauricio Pochettino patrolled the pitch after confirmation came that Chelsea are the sixth-best team in the country. He thanked the fans. Gave them the odd wave. Blew a kiss or two.
He will only find out if this was goodbye for good when he sits down with the owners this week to review their campaign. Whatever happens, Pochettino can be proud of how vastly his players have improved in the second half of this season to finish where they have.
Moises Caicedo sums up that turnaround as much as anybody, and his spectacular strike from the halfway line was what kickstarted this victory to ensure the club will be in Europe next season.
Which competition, we cannot say for sure. If Manchester City win the FA Cup final, it will be the Europa League. If Manchester United win, the Europa Conference League awaits.
It remains to be seen if either of those competitions will be enough to save Pochettino, but he has gone some way to restoring his own reputation by ending the season with one defeat in 15 Premier League games. Considering the ‘circumstances’ – Pochettino’s buzzword – sixth will have to do.
Thiago Silva was making his final appearances for Chelsea against Bournemouth
The Brazilian has decided to leave Stamford Bridge at the end of the season, drawing a close to four successful years in west London
Blues supporters honoured the veteran defender with a banner in the stands ahead of the fixture
Chelsea make no secret of their ambitions being higher, however. The ownership even penned a column in the programme outlining how they do not want to settle for anything less than competing for the Premier League. Whether Pochettino is the man to deliver that desire of theirs is a question they must now answer.
Pochettino showed his kindness when, less than an hour before kick-off, he walked into the media room to present a plaque to Brian Pullman, the press steward who started working for Chelsea in 1968 but would walk into retirement after this final fixture.
As well as Brian, there was a fond farewell to Thiago Silva, with the supporters unveiling not one but two gigantic banners at either end of Stamford Bridge to show their appreciation for the 39-year-old Brazilian. For one last time, they hoped to benefit from Silva’s calm influence in central defence with his name chanted throughout.
Chelsea took control of this contest from the start with Cole Palmer nearly scoring a toe-poke, Raheem Sterling seeing a penalty rejected after a trip by Antoine Semenyo, and Conor Gallagher firing wide from 25 yards. Bournemouth looked like they were waiting to be breached and the
