Chelsea’s late 1-0 win over Bournemouth saw the Premier League record broken for most yellow cards in a single game.
The previous record for the most cautions in a Premier League clash was 13 – set by Tottenham in their 2–1 win over Sheffield United on September 2023.
Now, that record has been broken, with Saturday’s ill-tempered clash at the Vitality Stadium seeing a whopping 14 dished out by referee Anthony Taylor.
Two of those came when Chelsea conceded a penalty in the first half, with one going to goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and the second going to Adam Smith.
Though Sanchez, who gave away the penalty following a poor back pass from Wesley Fofana, redeemed himself by brilliantly saving Evanilson’s spot-kick.
And there were three yellow cards brandished from the 87th minute onwards which helped secured a unique piece of Premier League history.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola refused to comment on Taylor’s refereeing performance in his post-match interview.
He said: “I will not talk about the referee.
“I have been talking and it is not working so I have decide now I will try the opposite, not talk and let’s see what happens.”
Asked for his thoughts on whether he felt it was an aggressive match, he simply stated: “No comment.”
In the end, it was Chelsea who ran out as 1-0 winners on the south coast, with substitute Christopher Nkunku firing in an 86th minute winner.
He combined with Blues debutant and Jadon Sancho, who picked up the man of the match award from the bench, with Nkunku then firing home into the bottom right corner.
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Despite a late Bournemouth onslaught, Chelsea held on for the win, which has seen them secure their first away clean sheet since October 2023.
But in truth, they can count themselves somewhat fortuitous to walk away with three points.
Goalkeeper Sanchez proved to be Chelsea’s hero throughout, where he made a total of seven saves – including his penalty heroics.
Chelsea had almost less than half the shots the hosts mustered, while they also had less possession, but in the end, they showed their resilience to grind out the victory.
Their win has lifted them up to seventh in the table – level on points with London rivals Arsenal in sixth.
Meanwhile Bournemouth have dropped into 11th spot, though boss Iraola will be pleased with what he saw from his side.
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