"He will always remain elite", "Never give up on him" - Fans praise Chelsea star after 2-2 draw against Bournemouth

Chelsea fans were impressed with Reece James’ performance in their Premier League clash with Bournemouth on Tuesday, January 14. The 25-year-old came up with a stoppage-time strike to prevent his side from suffering another abysmal defeat.

Going into the match, Chelsea were poised to end a bad spell in the EPL. The Blues haven’t won a single game in their last five league matches. As such, they came out racing out of the traps from the very minute that the kick-off whistle was blown until they opened the scoring in the 13th minute.

Nicolas Jackson produced some magic quick feet in the midfield to evade some Bournemouth before finding Cole Palmer with a reverse pass. The latter comfortably slotted home after producing a dummy move to deceive Mark Travers and gave his side a slender lead going into the break.

However, Bournemouth came out determined in the second half and got the equalizer five minutes after the restart. Justin Kluivert restored parity for the Cherries from the spot after Moises Caicedo was adjudged to have fouled Antoine Semenyo in the eighteen-yard box.

The game turned on its head in the 68th minute as Semenyo took on Josh Acheampong inside the Chelsea box before striking high past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez at his near post.

Enzo Maresca’s men huffed and puffed for an equalizer in the dying embers of the game, and they found it through returning captain Reece James. The England defender brilliantly swept in a free kick in the 95th minute to make sure the spoils were shared at Stamford Bridge.

Despite playing just 24 minutes of the game, Reece James made 85% accurate passes, had 35 touches, made one key pass, and had a rating of 7.1 as per Sofascore. After the match, fans took to X to laud his performance.

Popular Chelsea fan blog @CFCPys wrote:

''REECE JAMES, the game changer. J don’t care how much this man gets injured, he will always remain elite. My CAPTAIN.''

Another tweeted:

''Never give up on him ever what a player💙''

''Reece has just saved the Italian pep from the sack'' @SurgenorAlan wrote

''I thought we have lost this game. Thanks you CAPTAIN REECE JAMES 💙🔥💪'' @raymahraz added

''Kudos to Reece James. It could have been worse'' @Laxweet chimed in

''That reece goal means so much to me. My captain 💙'' @mdharrish_11 wrote

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca says he’s happy for Reece James after 2-2 draw with Bournemouth

While Chelsea fans would generally not be happy to drop points to Bournemouth, Enzo Maresca had some positives to take from the game. The Italian manager is excited that his captain got on the scoresheet and hopes to see him remain fit for the end of the season.

Maresca said via the club’s website:

''I am very happy for him, he deserved that after a difficult moment. It also gave us the point so I am happy for him and I am happy for us. I am so happy for him that he had this moment and the target for him now is to be fit until the end [of the season] and for him to help us in the way we want to play.''

The Italian manager also added that James can compete with Palmer in taking free kicks.

''Reece can compare with Cole in terms of free-kicks because he is very good,' Maresca added. 'We decided for Reece and he scored and we are all happy because at least we took a point.''

Reece James has only made six appearances for Chelsea across competitions this term.