Emiliano Martinez celebrates
Emiliano Martinez during Chelsea's win over Bournemouth(Image: Ryan Pierse)
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It took virtually everyone in the Stamford Bridge stands by surprise when Jordan Henderson ran up to take the free-kick on Saturday afternoon.
With the score 4-1 at the time, with around 20 minutes left to play, Henderson and Cole Palmer stood over a free-kick right at the edge of the box. Bournemouth goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic would surely have expected the left foot of Palmer, but instead it was Henderson's right foot that beat the Serbian.
Henderson and Palmer ran off in celebration towards the Matthew Harding Stand after the former's second beautiful strike of the afternoon - his first two goals since signing for Chelsea in the summer on a free transfer.
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Palmer's presence, when the Chelsea attacker stood over the set-piece, was enough to fool Bournemouth. An act of deception from the Blues that was inspired by their set-piece coach Austin MacPhee.
While not being the most complicated set-piece routine we've ever seen, it was clearly something MacPhee and Chelsea had worked on over the international break. That much was clear when Emi Martinez sprinted over to celebrate with MacPhee after Henderson's strike.
After he was done with his initial celebration in front of the Chelsea supporters, Henderson then made his way to MacPhee on the touchline and shook the Scot's hand.
A clip has now emerged online of Henderson and Palmer practicing free-kicks during a recent training session. The clip that emerged from behind closed doors is almost identical to Henderson's goal in the 5-1 win against Bournemouth.
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It was an afternoon full of practice making perfect for Chelsea. In the warm-up at Stamford Bridge, football.london spotted the Blues practicing a certain attacking situation; one where Pep Chavarria bombs down the left-hand side and looks for an early cross towards the middle.
Remarkably, it was preparing for exactly what Joao Pedro's second goal of the afternoon was. Chavarria found a bit of space down the left side and the speedy wing-back then delivered an inch-perfect, low cross for Joao Pedro to score from close range.
Xabi Alonso and his Blues coaches had clearly spotted a weakness of Bournemouth's down the Cherries' right-hand side and their due diligence paid off in the end.
It was Joao Pedro's fifth goal in as many Premier League matches this season. That, as well as three assists, makes him the division's most in-form player at the time of writing.
Joao Pedro celebrates
Joao Pedro has scored five Premier League goals in five matches this season(Image: Mike Hewitt)
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After a relatively quiet first period, the Brazil international got the second-half off to the perfect start with a fine finish after some resurgent work from Pedro Neto down the right. It was yet another early goal for Chelsea, who have made it their trademark to strike while supporters are making their way to their seats.
Chelsea raced to a 2-0 lead at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Henderson gave the Blues the advantage after 66 seconds, with Morgan Rogers making it two after 149.
It was the fifth Premier League game - bear in mind that Chelsea have only played six - this season that the west Londoners have opened the scoring after less than 10 minutes. Alonso, though, is none the wiser, so he says, regarding his side's rapid starts.
Asked specifically about his team's ability to score early goals, the Chelsea manager said: "I have nothing to do [with it], so I don't have the answer. We always speak about how we try to start the game with good energy, but I have no explanation, no credit to me.
"It has never happened to me in such a short period to score that many early goals. So, let's see if we can keep doing that. But after the goals, many other things need to happen. Maybe I prefer to score the first one in the last minute. It will happen one day, hopefully."