Sam Dalling was at Stamford Bridge for us, and here’s his report. Goodnight!

The win moves Chelsea to eighth, just behind Brighton on goal difference. They’re six points behind fourth-placed Spurs with a game in hand.

Still want more? Yeah you do

90+5 min: Chance for Bournemouth! Dembele’s superb cross from the right is headed just wide of the far post by Solanke, eight yards out. That was a really good chance for a consolation against his old club.

90+4 min Anthony’s free-kick is straight at Kepa, who punches it over the bar.

90+3 min After a thrilling run, Zemura is fouled just outside the area by Koulibaly. I’m not sure it was a foul – he seemed to stand on the ball – but this is a chance for Bournemouth…

90+1 min Five minutes of added time.

90 min We’re having a few technical problems, though the picture has returned in time to see Lewis Cook have a long-range shot blocked.

88 min Another change for Chelsea: Trevoh Chalobah replaces Raheem Sterling, who made the first goal and had one of his better nights as a Chelsea player.

86 min Another corner to Bournemouth, who are really making Chelsea work for their clean sheet. Christie curls it in, Kepa punches clear and the referee gives a foul anyway.

85 min Thiago Silva makes another important interception at the near post after a good ball from Lerma and a low cross from Smith (I think).

85 min: Bournemouth substitution Siriki Dembele replaces Kieffer Moore.

84 min Zemura’s dangerous cross is palmed away by the diving Kepa. Chelsea break and Havertz picks out Gallagher, whose shot from the edge of the area is well blocked by Kelly.

82 min: Double substitution for Chelsea Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Conor Gallagher replace Christian Pulisic and Denis Zakaria.

81 min Anthony’s deep corner is glanced well wide by Kelly. Wasn’t much of a chance.

81 min After a snappy passing move down the left, Zemura’s driven cross is put behind by Thiago Silva.

79 min: Good save from Kepa! That was probably Bournemouth’s best chance of the game. Lerma played a superb angled ball to find Christie on the right side of the area. He pinged a low shot from a tight angle that was well blocked by Kepa.

78 min It feels like the match is petering out. Mind you, we said the same at this stage of the World Cup final.

76 min A win is the main thing for Chelsea – Pulitzer please! – but they’ll also want a clean sheet, especially after their defensive struggles before the World Cup.

74 min And now Pulisic splashes a half-volley over the bar from the edge of the area.

73 min Chelsea work a right-wing corner short to Azpilicueta, whose excellent cross is headed just wide of the far post by Koulibaly. It was a pretty good effort.

72 min Lerma shoots into orbit from 25 yards. Though Bournemouth are playing much better, they still haven’t tested Kepa.

71 min Azpilicueta had a bit of a nose bleed, but he’s fine to continue.

70 min Anthony’s corner is headed away by the off balance Azpilicueta, who goes down holding his face. There’s a break in play while he receives treatment.

69 min Lerma wins a corner for Bournemouth, who are having their best spell of sustained pressure…

68 min Chelsea’s next game is away to Nottm Forest on New Year’s Day; then they play Man City twice in the league and FA Cup. Bournemouth are at home to Crystal Palace on New Year’s Eve; then they go to Old Trafford.

66 min: Bournemouth substitution Ryan Christie replaces Philip Billing, a good player who has had a quiet night.

64 min Mount cuts inside from the left, uses the overlapping Havertz by not using him and whistles a low drive from 20 yards that is pushed round the post by the diving Travers. Good save.

64 min It’s been a more even second half, and at times Bournemouth has pressed very effectively. But there’s no real sign of them getting back in the game.

63 min “Jesper Blomqvist made his debut against Charlton Athletic,” says Al Travers quite correctly. “The best fact regarding Jesper must be that he had his own cooking show ‘Cooking with Jesper’ instead of playing for Manchester United due to injury.”

61 min Marc Cucurella’s boot has been ripped after a late challenge from Cook. Chelsea are down to 10 men while he sorts a replacement; in fact he’s now wearing odd boots.

60 min Kai Havertz 1-1 Jeff Sachs. He has just missed a good chance for his second, shooting wide from 10 yards after an elegant run infield from the right.

59 min Anthony’s deflected long-range shot is saved comfortably by Kepa. Chelsea thought Mount was fouled just beforehand, but it didn’t matter in the end.

57 min “Now I understand why Azpilicueta has such a pained expression on his face,” says Jeff Sachs. “He rubs Vicks in his nostrils!!! Crazy.”

Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Next you’ll be telling me you’re not supposed to suck a Berocca tablet.

55 min Mount does superbly to tee up Zakaria, whose shot from the edge of the area is deflected over the bar by Zemura.

53 min Havertz guides a lovely ball inside Zemura for Sterling, whose cutback is sliced wide from about 12 yards by Zakaria. I think a Bournemouth defender got a slight touch on the ball just before Zakaria.

52 min: Chelsea substitution James gets too his feet and walks off the field to be replaced by Cesar Azpilicueta. This is really sad – he’s a quite magnificent footballer, who just can’t catch a break at the moment.

51 min Oh dear, Reece James is down. He looks quite distressed, too, as if he knows he’s done something serious. I think he’s in tears, in fact. Poor bloke.

50 min Cucurella plays a lovely give-and-go with Pulisic, charges into space and then finds Sterling on the far side. His cross is slightly too deep for Havertz.

49 min Mason Mount has been close to his best today, so inventive and bright in everything he does. I must say, I didn’t expect it as he’s had a relatively poor year. It probably helps that James is back in the team; those two combine so well.

46 min Peep peep! Bournemouth begin the second half, and Lerma flattens Mount within 10 seconds.

Bournemouth have made a half-time substitution – Jaidon Anthony is on for Jack Stacey.

“Just catching up with the MBM; good to see there was a George Cohen tribute, and thanks for the reference to him as great,” says Richard Hirst. “When I started watching Fulham he was one of my first heroes at Fulham, and I still have the programme from his testimonial match. As the words on his statue say, a true gentleman.”

I didn’t realise until tonight that George Best said he was the best full-back he played against. That’ll do.

“Well Rob, my life’s goal has been achieved,” writes Mary Waltz. “My actual existence has been questioned. I have become a hyper minor conspiracy figure in the Guardian. It doesn’t reach the level of the Cambridge Spy ring as scandals go but it’s something!!”

Half-time reading

The goals

“Merry Christmas Rob,” says Andrew Hurley. “Are Chelsea where Arsenal were two years ago? A collection of overpaid, not consistently motivated players who will constantly rotate in and out of the team as they don’t fit the structure of what the manager would like? Do they need a big clear out to start again? A big or easy win this evening doesn’t change their predicament.. Sterling, Aubamayeng, Ziyech et al are surely not the way forward...”

They’re certainly in transition, and they have a lot of over-30s. But there are also some quality young players they can plan around: James, Chilwell, Fofana, Mount, Havertz, etc. I suppose the key is whether Graham Potter is brave enough to do what he wants rather than what he thinks is expected of a Chelsea manager.

45+2 min That’s an even better save from Travers, who reaches to his left to paw Sterling’s fierce rising drive round the near post.

45+1 min Mount cracks a pass out towards James on the right side of the area. Zemura comes across, but James wins a 45/55 ball and smashes a shot that is blocked at the near post by Travers.

45+1 min Four minutes of added time.

45 min “As an Arsenal fan I tuned in early from Canada’s west coast this morning looking for a turgid Chelsea to get their hindquarters handed to them in a can once again — only to find them playing attractive, flowing football and leading deservedly,” weeps Allan Castle. “Very disappointing, although my mood was lifted by that shot of sad Auba on the bench!”

Merry Christmas!

44 min It’s all happening here! A dodgy square pass from Thiago leads to a penalty appeal for Bournemouth. Play continues, Chelsea break and Pulisic scores at the other end – but the goal is disallowed for a softish foul by Havertz on Smith (I think) in the build up.

42 min “It gets worse Rob!” says Gary Naylor. “If the ref blows for the foul on Pulisic after he got the shot away (that goes wide), it would be a penalty but maybe not a red card. Why? Pulisic did get a goal scoring opportunity, mitigated, but not denied, by the foul. MOGSO not DOGSO! Where’s William Goldman when you need him?”

See, I told you we couldn’t make Naylor up.

41 min Havertz is a bit lucky to avoid a yellow card for a late tackle on Senesi.

40 min Bournemouth are still attacking with purpose and optimism. Lerma robs Zakaria in midfield, which allows Cook to slide a through ball towards Moore. Thiago Silva comes across to make an immaculate interception.

38 min “The combination of Sterling and James on the Chelsea right wing is too much for Bournemouth to cope with,” says Neil Pinkerton. “If only James had been available for the World Cup.”

He is a fantastic player, but did England really miss him? Kyle Walker couldn’t have played Mbappe much better. James might have carried more of an attacking threat I suppose, particularly in the last 15 minutes. I thought Alexander-Arnold should have come on when they went 2-1 down.

37 min Zemura charges into the area from the left and is well tackled by Zakaria. The resulting corner is headed away at the near post.

36 min “Have you actually slept recently, you are always on duty,” says Jeremy Boyce. “I am surely only the 1057th person to have noted that Mary is leading us a Merry Waltz, and is in fact a creation of the Grauniad’s staff as a coverall for any time there aren’t enough readers writing in, just to get some email action going ? Funnily enough, there she is for the second goal, and here I am writing in... It’s a funny old game football, ain’t it Saint?”

People used to say the same about Gary Naylor. Then they met him and realised - and I say this with love - that you couldn’t make Naylor up.

34 min Thiago wafts an absurd long pass over the defence to Havertz, who is fractionally offside.

33 min Chelsea are well on top now, and they look especially dangerous down the right through Sterling, James and Mount.

31 min “When I’m not following the football, I have started working through the King William’s College Quiz,” says Joe Pearson. “After HOURS of research, I’ve only answered about twenty out of the 180 questions. Lots of obscure history and literature references. Where are the footie questions!”

Yes, I can see it now.

1. who failed to survive her 10th confinement?

2. who greeted premiers past and present two days before she died?

3. against which club did Jesper Blomqvist make his Man Utd debut?

29 min Cook makes a good challenge on Pulisic, but both men are injured in the process. There’s a break in play while they receive treatment.

27 min Lerma clips a fine pass over Cucurella to find Stacey on the right side of the area. He tries to chest the ball back inside Cucurella, who sticks out a leg and makes a very important interception.

27 min “Pulisic was pulled,” says Mary Waltz. “But I think the officials’ judgment was correct. Which, for me, is another reason to bin VAR. VAR’s whole purpose was to eliminate controversy over officials’ calls, it has generated just as much controversy as it has eliminated. Go back to pre-VAR and accept the fact that mistakes will be made.”

26 min Bournemouth have switched to their usual 4-4-2, with Jack Stacey moving to the right of midfield.

Mount almost put Zakaria through on goal with an imaginative first-time pass. Zakaria was crowded out but Havertz collected the loose ball and played it back to Mount on the edge of the D. He used Lerma as a screen and swept a lovely curling shot into the bottom-right corner. Travers had no chance.

23 min “The point is moot now,” says Andy Flintoff, “but if Pulisic had not thrown his arms out in appeal after the tug, he’d have been better balanced for the shot and probably would have scored.”

At the risk of becoming the Trevor Brooking of the MBM world, I can see both sides!

22 min Zakaria fell into one of the Bournemouth players at a corner, ramming his head into their back I think. He’s on his feet and seems okay.

21 min “Yessss,” says Jeff Sachs, “but Nunez would have missed...”

Let’s save it for the next Liverpool MBM, but in short, he’s going to be a star.

20 min Zakaria is down with a head injury, which means a break in play.

18 min “Pulisic will dive next time before he gets the shot off - and I certainly won’t blame him,” says Gary Naylor.

I thought he dived then, while also hedging his bets and having a shot. It probably was a foul, though the way he went down may have counted against him. There was an interesting penalty at Arsenal last night after a not dissimilar incident., but on that occasion Jarrod Bowen tried to stay on his feet.

That was a good team goal. Mount eased a nice ball down the right to Sterling, who angled a devastating first-time cross towards Havertz at the far post. He slid in to force the ball through Travers from four yards.

15 min I can see why VAR didn’t overturn that decision - there wasn’t that much contact, therefore it wasn’t a clear and obvious error - although I haven’t really got a clue what constitutes a foul any more.

12 min: Chelsea penalty appeal! Pulisic collects a loose ball on the edge of the D and surges into the area. Smith panics and grabs his shirt, and Pulisic accepts the invitation to go down before shooting wide on the stretch. Simon Hooper says no penalty and VAR isn’t interested. Hmm. It wasn’t much of a shirt pull, and Pulisic certainly made the most of it, but it was still a shirt pull.

Smith is lucky because, had a penalty been given, he would have been sent off as well.

11 min Thiago is still limping, though there’s no sign of him coming off.

10 min “I am the lone person in the office today – despite not being a holiday here in the good ol’ USA, everyone else is off,” says Rachel Clifton. “So the MBM is even more of a godsend than usual. And it isn’t Southampton…”

I was surprised to see that they’re bottom of the table. Looks like the best way for a south coast team to avoid relegation is to get tonked 9-0 early in the season.

8 min Maybe Jeff Sachs was right: Havertz has just missed a chance, heading over from Cucurella’s deep, floated cross. It wasn’t the easiest opportunity, but he should probably have hit the target.

8 min “Not getting a holiday break?” says Jeff Sachs. “Havertz is as good as Nunez at missing.”

Tough crowd!

7 min Thiago Silva is limping, which is a problem for Chelsea. They do have Trevoh Chalobah on the bench.

5 min Bournemouth are playing with a back five, as predicted, though Billing is playing alongside Lerma and Cook in midfield rather than in front of them.

3 min Mount’s corner is dummied by Sterling, which allows the ball to run towards Reece James on the edge of the area. He mishits a shot into the crowd and Bournemouth clear.

2 min Chelsea’s shape is a 4-2-3-1, as we expected, but with Sterling on the right and Pulisic on the left.

2 min Billing’s free-kick is saved comfortably by Kepa. Chelsea break and Havertz wins the first corner of the game.

1 min Solanke, once of Chelsea, slaloms past two players before being taken out by Thiago Silva. Free-kick to Bournemouth 30 yards from goal…

1 min Peep peep! Chelsea, kicking from right to left as we watch, get the game under way.

There’s a minute’s applause for the great George Cohen, who died last week aged 83. And now it’s time for the action.

“Greetings and felicitations,” writes Vincent. “Time for the Blues to show us what they’ve got Rob, mid-table is not good enough; greetings from all here.”

And from here. Merry Christmas to all!

“Here in the U-S-A! U-S-A!! U-S-A!!!, Snakes and Ladders is marketed as Chutes and Ladders,” writes Peter Oh. “Bournemouth forwards take note. If you want to score you’ve got to CHUTE!, er, SHOOT!”

These are exciting times for Bournemouth. Gary O’Neil was appointed as permanent manager during the World Cup, having done an excellent job as caretaker, and the American Bill Foley completed his takeover a couple of weeks ago.

It’s a grim old night in west London, with the rain hooning down. Not quite a wet, windy one in Stoke, but Amazon Prime do have Tony Pulis as one of their pundits.

And if he doesn’t change Chelsea’s fortunes, at least he’ll be given a fortune when they pay him up. For all kinds of reasons, I really, really hope he succeeds.

The state of play

Chelsea start the game in ninth place. They’re also nine points off a Champions League place, though they have two games in hand on fourth-place Spurs.

Bournemouth are 14th, three points above the relegation places in what is an increasingly compelling game of Snakes and Ladders. A win tonight would move them up to 12th.