Chelsea 0 Bournemouth 3: Olivier Giroud watches on as new side are picked apart

Olivier Giroud must have thought he was leaving nights like this behind him when he swapped Arsenal for Chelsea.

But just 24 hours after seeing the Gunners concede three goals to Swansea City, Giroud watched his new Chelsea team-mates fall to an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Bournemouth.

Second-half goals from Callum Wilson, Junior Stanislas and former Chelsea defender Nathan Ake made it an unhappy introduction to his new surroundings for Giroud.

Ahead of kick-off, there had been as much interest among the Chelsea fans on matters off the pitch as what was going to happen on it. New signings Giroud and Emerson Palmieri were at Stamford Bridge even though they were not eligible to play.

But following their heaviest home defeat in the League for eight years and with Chelsea now only two points above fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, there will suddenly be concern over whether reinforcements from the benches of Arsenal and Roma will be enough for the Blues to remain in the top four.

The £18million arrival of Giroud meant Michy Batshuayi, who had been due to start against Bournemouth, was allowed to join Borussia Dortmund on loan until the end of the season to try to boost his bid to secure a place in Belgium’s World Cup squad.

With Batshuayi gone and Alvaro Morata and Willian injured, head coach Antonio Conte was forced into a late re-think over his team and opted to hand a first start to the first of Chelsea’s three January signings, Ross Barkley.

Eden Hazard was deployed through the middle with Barkley to the right of him, but the change of plan did not work as Chelsea were toothless without a recognised striker and Conte even threw on 17-year-old Callum Hudson Odoi just after Bournemouth had netted their second.

Wilson, Stanislas and Jordan Ibe caused Chelsea problems from the first minute and the home side’s task was made more difficult when Andreas Christensen suffered a hamstring injury and had to be replaced by Antonio Rudiger.

Gary Cahill headed Pedro’s corner over the bar, Steve Cook had to be alert to produce a goal-saving tackle on Hazard and Marcos Alonso headed a David Zappacosta cross just wide. But ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic enjoyed a relatively untroubled first half.

Marcos Alonso curled a free-kick just over the bar after Hazard had been fouled by Cook shortly after the break, but Chelsea were immediately caught on the counter attack as Bournemouth took a shock 51st-minute lead.

Tiemoue Bakayoko lost the ball and Wilson laid it off to Ibe before racing on to the former Liverpool forward’s pass and beating goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Lewis Cook then went close to doubling the visitors’ lead before Cesc Fabregas replaced Barkley and Rudiger’s cross-shot was poked behind by Simon Francis.

As Conte prepared to send on Hudson-Odoi for his first Premier League appearance, Bournemouth extended their advantage.

Wilson was the provider this time as he passed to Stanislas and, with Cesar Azpilicueta out of position, he poked the ball through the legs of Courtois.

Any slim hope of a Chelsea fightback was killed off just three minutes later, as a corner came back out to Stanislas and Ake diverted his attempted shot into the net to the general disbelief of everybody inside Stamford Bridge.

The victory was Bournemouth’s first on the road since beating Newcastle United on November 4 and manager Eddie Howe rated it as the best since he has been in charge.

“This is the best because of the performance,” said Howe. “When we won here in our first season in the Premier League it was an historic performance, but it was backs were against the wall. There was no luck connected today. It was a very strong performance. We're improving, we're getting stronger, we were very brave in our approach.

“It's a huge moment for us this season. The best performance that we’ve had at this level and the result has matched it. Full credit to the players. Chelsea are an outstanding team, but we defended very well, attacked with purpose, and the shape and balance were very good.”

As good as Bournemouth were, nobody could blame the thousands of Chelsea fans who walked out early and Giroud must have wondered if he was still at the Emirates. At least he is used to a top-four fight.