Bournemouth suffered a rather unfortunate 1-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in Saturday's late kick-off as Frenchman Christopher Nkunku scored on 86 minutes, assisted by new signing Jadon Sancho.

Home fans left the game feeling hard done by after Bournemouth hit the woodwork twice and had an Evanilson penalty saved by 'Man of the Match' Robert Sanchez.

The first half saw the Cherries dominant with plenty of shots and crosses threatening the Blue's goal, barely offering any opportunities for Chelsea's frontline to score past Mark Travers.

Come the second half, Bournemouth started as they began but the intensity soon dropped off just after the hour mark, leading to Chelsea growing into the game more.

Even though there was only one goal in the game, the match was packed full of action and despite the defeat, Bournemouth still put in a great performance, so here are four top takeaways from the Cherries display in the evening's affair...

Mixing up the forward play It was an evening of diverse forward play, in that the team utilised many different kinds of play to create dangerous opportunities.

Whether that was throwing a cross into the box for someone to header, crossing low from the byline, passing through the defence or simply smashing it from 25 yards out, Bournemouth were constantly making their opponents think.

It led to Chelsea struggling to adapt to Bournemouth's quick and unpredictable play.

Chelsea's defenders and midfielders looked at odds when Bournemouth players were in their half on the ball, unsure of who to track and whether to press or not.

Bournemouth were accused a few times last season of being a little predictable in their play and, arguably, that predictability was seen in the last 20 minutes when Chelsea gained more control over the game.

But in the good hour before, fans were entertained with all kinds of attacks, coming from all kinds of positions and were rather unlucky to not find one of those 19 shots ending up in the back of the net.

Christie and Cook - a formidable pairing It is easy to overstate players' influence on squads but for Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie this cannot be done.

Two central midfielders who are absolutely crucial to the way Bournemouth play and their success, which is exactly what was seen in the game against Chelsea.

In a midfield against the likes of Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Renato Veiga, who cost over PS160m combined, Cook and Christie were relentless in their efforts to control their opponents' play and movements, stopping anything of quality being produced from the middle.

The two Bournemouth players were a thorn in the side of their opposite numbers, constantly chasing, tracking and harassing the Blue's midfield three.

This was particularly the case for Palmer and Caicedo, who proved to be of little worth to their teammates for large parts of the game, to the credit of Cook and Christie.

Such was their combined influence, that once Christie was substituted midway through the second half, it felt as if Chelsea regained control in the midfield and could take more time on the ball to find better passes.

Bournemouth lost the running and energy that Ryan Christie brought and with that Lewis Cook dropped his positioning a little and was less inclined to move from his area, leading to the Chelsea players suddenly becoming a threat in front of their host's defence.

Defenders key in starting moves Despite the result, Bournemouth's defenders can look back on a solid and well-organised performance, only out-muscled by Christopher Nkunku when conceding the goal.

But away from their defensive duties, it was another great display of how excellent Bournemouth's backline are on the ball and how important they are in creating play.

When it comes to the full-backs of Adam Smith and Milos Kerkez, they are dogged in their efforts to join attacking phases, running up the lines to offer the overlap.

There were multiple occasions where the ball was worked wide by the Bournemouth players, to which a frantic Smith or Kerkez would be bombing down the line offering a way behind Chelsea's defence.

And as for the two central defenders, Illia Zabarnyi and Marcos Senesi, their composure on the ball and the passing quality they both possess means that Bournemouth can rely on them to bring the team up the pitch and initiate attacks.

What is even better is that both players are as comfortable playing long, as they are playing short, which was observed once again during the match.

Senesi and Zabarnyi were constantly finding ways to exploit Chelsea's confusion off the ball and fire passes that only required the receiving player to turn and run in order to create a chance and open up the scoring.

Football is unfair sometimes Finally, it should be mentioned how unfair football can be sometimes, something undoubtedly learned in this late kick-off.

Bournemouth may not have had the possession but they certainly had the better chances and even played the better football.

It was a fast, thrilling game that kept Cherries fans on the edge of their seats, hungry to see their team start the next attacking move.

For at least an hour, Bournemouth were the better team, creating superior chances and plenty more of them than compared to Chelsea.

But unfortunately, games are not won on who deserves it more, rather everything is on your ability to score goals.

And if you do not take your chances, it does not matter how good they are, you open the opportunity for your opponent to take theirs and ultimately the points too.

Bournemouth can look back on the performance against Chelsea with pride and take away many positives but in the end, it is goals that count.