Jordan Henderson stole the show on Saturday afternoon on his home debut for Chelsea. The 36-year-old midfielder starred in the emphatic 5-1 win over Bournemouth with two stunning goals and an assist. Henderson opened the scoring after little more than a minute, set up the second soon after and rounded off the celebrations at Stamford Bridge in the second half with a brilliant free-kick.
Chelsea, with Jorrel Hato left on the bench for the entire match, made a flying start and needed only 65 seconds to break the deadlock against Bournemouth, who were still without the injured Justin Kluivert. Cole Palmer, who had extended his contract until mid-2034 earlier in the day, dribbled into the penalty area and pulled the ball back to Henderson. The experienced former Ajax midfielder needed no invitation and swept a first-time finish in off the inside of the far post: 1-0.
From there the home side kept coming and doubled their lead barely a minute and a half later. Henderson turned provider this time for Morgan Rogers, who let fly from the edge of the box and watched his effort deflect off Bournemouth defender António Silva into the far corner. VAR checked whether João Pedro was offside, but 2-0 stood.
That left Henderson with a goal and an assist inside two minutes and 29 seconds. According to Opta, only Emile Heskey managed that combination more quickly in Premier League history. Henderson nearly grabbed a second after 23 minutes too, but his delicate effort from outside the box clipped an opponent and drifted narrowly wide.
Bournemouth, who had picked up only three points from their first five league matches, then tried to force their way back into the game. Rayan had an excellent chance after six minutes but fired wide from a difficult angle, then later found Emiliano Martínez in his way when clean through. Martínez also reacted sharply to Ryan Christie's rebound, keeping the visitors from reducing the deficit before half-time.
After the break, Chelsea needed only 30 seconds to make it 3-0 through João Pedro. Pedro Neto pounced on an error by Silva and pulled the ball back to the Brazilian striker, who finished emphatically. Bournemouth refused to fold, though, and made it 3-1 in the 51st minute when Evanilson blocked a clearance from Moisés Caicedo into the net from close range.
The goal lifted Bournemouth and the visitors began to take control. Chelsea struggled for a spell, but João Pedro ended any doubt in the 67th minute by turning in a cross from Pep Chavarría from close range: 4-1. Then came the moment of the afternoon, Henderson standing over a free-kick on the edge of the box and curling it brilliantly into the top corner.
By scoring his second, Henderson put the seal on an exceptional display at Stamford Bridge. At 36 years and 115 days old, the former Liverpool captain became Chelsea's oldest-ever player to be directly involved in at least three goals in a single Premier League match.