Captain Reece James stepped up when it mattered for Chelsea, bending in a late free-kick to earn the Blues a point in a thrilling 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
The night started off well for Chelsea as Cole Palmer got his 14th of the season when he ran on to a through-ball from Nicolas Jackson before firing past Mark Travers after leaving the Cherries keeper wrong-footed with a clever dummy.
Chelsea had several first-half chances to double the advantage through Jackson Palmer and Enzo Fernandez but failed to capitalise as the first half ended with just the early Palmer goal.
The Blues were made to rue those misses as Bournemouth wasted little time to level the score through Justin Kluivert’s penalty five minutes into the second half after Antoine Semenyo was brought down in the box by Moises Caicedo.
Bournemouth then took the lead in the 67th minute as Semenyo rounded past Josh Acheampong before sending a thunderous shot beyond Robert Sanchez’s reach.
Iraola’s men would have gone level on points with Chelsea had they been able to keep the lead till the end, but James’ free-kick deep in stoppage time ensured the Blues stay fourth, three points ahead of Bournemouth in seventh place.