Josh King leads Bournemouth rout of woeful Chelsea

Bournemouth 4-0 Chelsea: The Cherries sliced through the visitors' defence with ease to record an impressive victory on a chilly night on the south coast

Bournemouth celebrate Josh King scoring their third of the night (PA)

Joshua King struck twice as Bournemouth inflicted a humiliating defeat on Chelsea that meant Maurizio Sarri’s side drop out of the top four.

A fifth league defeat in two months means Sarri’s side have now fallen behind Arsenal, and exposed familiar failings within Sarri’s side.

On top for long periods of the first half, Chelsea were unable to turn possession into goals with Gonzalo Higuain making little impact on his Premier League debut. Instead it was Bournemouth who showed how to finish with all four goals coming after the break with a Joshua King double and a David Brooks strike putting them in control before Charlie Daniels’ added time fourth.

Sarri hopes the arrival of the on-loan Juventus striker will provide his side with a much-needed cutting edge and relief the pressure on Eden Hazard to fill the role of a false nine. The head coach , though, admitted the 31-year-old must settle into his new surroundings quickly but on this evidence, the Argentine will take time to bed in.

Nonetheless, the visiting supporters expressed their frustration when Higuain was withdrawn after 64 minutes, booing the decision to replace him with Olivier Giroud and chanting ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’.

Chelsea’s build-up had been dominated by the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of Callum Hudson-Odoi, the teenage winger who has been a January target for Bayern Munich. Speaking ahead of this game, Sarri insisted the player’s transfer request would not be granted and made it clear the 18-year-old, whose current contract has 18 months to run, should repay the club for helping develop his career by committing himself to Stamford Bridge.

Sarri, though, chose not to include the youngster in his matchday squad and Hudson-Odoi watched from the stands.

Josh King puts Bournemouth in front (AFP/Getty Images)

Higuain, who had made his first Chelsea appearance in Sunday’s 3-0 FA Cup defeat of Sheffield Wednesday, had an early opportunity to make his mark at his new club when he attempted to reach Pedro’s seventh minutes cross. Had the 31-year-old made contact, he would almost certainly have been celebrating his first Blues goal, but instead the ball worked its way through to Mateo Kovacic whose header was denied by an excellent save from Bournemouth keeper, Artur Boruc.

The home side, who were without Chelsea target Callum Wilson after the winger underwent minor surgery on a knee problem that is expected to keep him out for three weeks, had started brightly but they soon found themselves forced to defend deeply, and struggled to get out of their own half.

Pedro again forced his way down the right and drew a save from Boruc after cutting inside left-back Adam Smith and there was a growing sense the home defences would soon be breached.

Nathan Ake, the former Chelsea centre-back who has been linked with a return to the club, made a succession of timely interventions and as the first half progressed, the home side began to threaten.

David Brooks turns David Luiz inside out (AFP/Getty Images)

At the start of the second half, Brooks set up King for the 47th minute opener before adding the second in the 63rd minute after pouncing on a mistake by David Luiz.

King made it three in the 74th minute after receiving a pass from Junior Stanislas and with Chelsea unable to respond, Daniels wrapped thing up with a late header.

Bournemouth (4-4-1-1): Boruc 8; Clyne 7, S Cook 7, Ake 7, Smith 6; Stanislas 7 (Mepham 90), Gosling 7, Surman 7, Fraser 8 (Daniels 90); Brooks 9 (Ibe 68, 6); King 8. Subs not used: Begovic, Mousset, Ibe, Daniels, Rico, Solanke, Mepham.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga 6; Azpilicueta 6, Rudiger 5, Luiz 5, Emerson 6; Kante 6, Jorginho 5, Kovacic 6 (Loftus-Cheek 77); Pedro 6 (Willian 61,6), Higuain 5 (Giroud 65), Hazard 6. Subs not used: Caballero, Alonso, Barkley, Christensen.

Referee: R East 6