Chelsea's season of two halves ends with a European place guaranteed

Mauricio Pochettino patrolled the pitch after confirmation came that Chelsea are the sixth-best team in the country. He thanked the fans. Gave them the odd wave. Blew a kiss or two.

He will only find out if this was goodbye for good when he sits down with the owners this week to review their campaign. Whatever happens, Pochettino can be proud of how vastly his players have improved in the second half of this season to finish where they have.

Moises Caicedo sums up that turnaround as much as anybody, and his spectacular strike from the halfway line was what kickstarted this victory to ensure the club will be in Europe next season.

Which competition, we cannot say for sure. If Manchester City win the FA Cup final, it will be the Europa League. If Manchester United win, the Europa Conference League awaits.

It remains to be seen if either of those competitions will be enough to save Pochettino, but he has gone some way to restoring his own reputation by ending the season with one defeat in 15 Premier League games. Considering the ‘circumstances’ – Pochettino’s buzzword – sixth will have to do.

Chelsea make no secret of their ambitions being higher, however. The ownership even penned a column in the programme outlining how they do not want to settle for anything less than competing for the Premier League. Whether Pochettino is the man to deliver that desire of theirs is a question they must now answer.

Pochettino showed his kindness when, less than an hour before kick-off, he walked into the media room to present a plaque to Brian Pullman, the press steward who started working for Chelsea in 1968 but would walk into retirement after this final fixture.

As well as Brian, there was a fond farewell to Thiago Silva, with the supporters unveiling not one but two gigantic banners at either end of Stamford Bridge to show their appreciation for the 39-year-old Brazilian. For one last time, they hoped to benefit from Silva’s calm influence in central defence with his name chanted throughout.

Chelsea took control of this contest from the start with Cole Palmer nearly scoring a toe-poke, Raheem Sterling seeing a penalty rejected after a trip by Antoine Semenyo, and Conor Gallagher firing wide from 25 yards. Bournemouth looked like they were waiting to be breached and the breakthrough arrived in the 17th minute, courtesy of a collector’s item from Caicedo.

It started with Nicolas Jackson playing a pass in behind for Raheem Sterling, who was beaten to the ball as Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto rushed out of his box to clear. Caicedo picked up possession on the halfway line and listened to the crowd begging him to shoot from 50 yards. He did as told, scoring the furthest goal seen in the Premier League since Wayne Rooney for Everton against West Ham in November 2017. Never too late to log a contender for strike of the season, and certainly not the worst way to get your first goal for Chelsea.

Bournemouth were getting frustrated with Semenyo cautioned for throwing Marc Cucurella to the ground and Milos Kerkez joining his team-mate in the referee’s book when he tried to buy a penalty for a nonexistent trip by Trevoh Chalobah. Though Chelsea had largely looked comfortable, they received a warning before the break when Marcus Tavernier forced a save out of Djordje Petrovic, who made sure they retained their half-time lead.

A table for first halves would place Chelsea in the Premier League’s top four this season. For second halves, they are closer to the relegation zone, however. They now had to stop Bournemouth from somehow turning this game around to secure their sixth-placed finish.

Within two minutes of the restart, Enes Unal should have equalised when Lewis Cook’s shot from distance found him unmarked, but he was not fast enough in shifting his feet.

Instead, Chelsea raced up the other end to make it 2-0 with Sterling, making his first start since March, driving at Max Aarons before shooting. It was helped in by Neto as the ball bounced through his legs, and Pochettino’s team now had a healthy lead after 48 minutes.

Yet in the 49th, Bournemouth got back into the game when Unal’s strike took a wicked deflection off Benoit Badiashile, the defender accidentally diverting the ball beyond Petrovic for 2-1.

It was as if the Chelsea goal had a forcefield around it. With that, the hosts held on to finish sixth.

How Bournemouth did not equalise in stoppage time, only they know. First, Dango Ouattara saw his shot saved by Petrovic. Then, Ryan Christie thought he was about to tap in the rebound when Gallagher slid in to block. Then finally, Solanke blasted over the crossbar when the goal was gaping.

It was as if the Chelsea goal had a forcefield around it. With that, the hosts held on to finish sixth.