Alonso lauds Chelsea's strong attack after thumping Bournemouth win

Xabi Alonso hailed Chelsea's attacking players while remaining confident that a clean sheet will come soon after a thumping 5-1 win over Bournemouth.

Chelsea were without a win in their last three Premier League games, but returned from the international break with an impressive victory.

Jordan Henderson and Morgan Rogers put the Blues 2-0 up within the first two and a half minutes, while Joao Pedro also scored just 30 seconds into the second half.

Evanilson pulled one back for the visitors, but Joao Pedro and Henderson both scored again to complete an emphatic victory that moved Chelsea up to fifth in the table.

Chelsea scored five goals in a Premier League home game for the first time since May 2024 (5-0 win over West Ham), and Alonso was impressed by his side's performance.

"I wouldn't say [it was a] crazy [game]," Alonso told BBC Sport.

"We started really well, and the first half was really very serious; we were in good control of the game and even the second [half], we started well, but after conceding, there were 10 minutes where the game could finish in a more close way, but the fourth goal was really important.

"It was a good performance and a good win.

"We need to be complete to have this goal threat. For sure, we have great attackers and players that have control, which is really enjoyable when they want to help their team-mates.

"The clean sheet will come. We were close and had a great lead, but the win with a clean sheet will come."

Henderson was particularly impressive, becoming the oldest Chelsea player (at 36 years and 115 days) to be directly involved in three goals in a Premier League game, overtaking Gianluca Vialli (33y 245d).

He is also Chelsea's oldest English goalscorer in the top-flight since John Terry against Watford in May 2017 (36y 159d).

Henderson bookended the scoring, with his second goal an impressive free-kick into the near post, though Alonso was not surprised by that finish.

"He's been using this international break to practice the free-kick, and Austin [McPhee, set-piece coach] said he could score, and he did it really well," Alonso said when asked about Henderson.

As for Bournemouth, their wait for a first Premier League win of the season goes on as they remain around the relegation zone.

The Cherries have lost consecutive league games for the first time since December 2025 and are, overall, winless in their last eight outings in the competition (D5 L3).

"It's going to be difficult to get something from the game [after conceding early goals]," Rose told BBC Sport.

"It's too much. We knew that Chelsea were going to start well, and we didn't react to it in the right way. It was a really bad performance from us, and we need to react in the next games.

"The last games, we had good performances but struggled in places, but here, we struggled again and had some good situations. Three points out of six games; we need a reaction and a turnaround, and quite soon.

"We need to stay positive, and we have to face the reality, and that's very important."