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Big-spending Chelsea held by winless Bournemouth

Chelsea endured another frustrating afternoon after playing to a  goalless draw against winless Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

Mauricio Pochettino recalled Lesley Ugochukwu and Mykhailo Mudryk from the loss to Nottingham Forest, with Ben Chilwell on the bench and record signing Moses Caicedo not in the squad after being away with his national team Ecuador.

Mudryk was lively following the opening 12 minutes as he made a move in-field to set-up Nicolas Jackson and had the forward's low rasping shot hit the foot of the post.

The Cherries staged a response after five minutes when a quickly taken free-kick out on the right led to a delivery across the area where Dango Ouattara charged to work a point-blank save off Robert Sanchez.

Chelsea did have another opening two minutes from the half-hour mark as Conor Gallagher got space in the area after beating one challenge though couldn't get his strike beyond goalkeeper Neto.

Pochettino's men were denied the lead five minutes in the second half when Levi Colwill turned in a loose ball after Raheem Sterling's free-kick crept off the underside of the crossbar.

Mudryk's time on the field ended following the 62nd minute after the Ukraine international made way for Manchester City's academy graduate Cole Palmer.

The host asserted intense amount of pressure 12 minutes later as Gallagher deflected Philip Billing's low powerful free-kick away before Sanchez smothered Solanke's close-range shot.

Chelsea enjoyed late chances too through Palmer's first-time shot from a cross which saw Neto make a reaction save whilst substitute Chilwell had the follow-up blocked.

As the opener continued to be elusive, the two teams settled for a point which leaves the Blues in the bottom-half and the Cherries winless.

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