Frank Lampard finally got his first win – and first points – as Chelsea interim manager, as late goals from Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix secured the Blues a 3-1 win away to Bournemouth.
Chelsea remain in the bottom half of the Premier League table, in 11th place, but avoided the potential ignominy of dropping below the hosts – who have clawed themselves well away from relegation trouble in recent weeks.
The result ends a rotten run for Lampard – who had made the worst start of any permanent or interim boss in the Blues' history, losing each of his first six games in all competitions.
Conor Gallagher had given Chelsea the lead inside nine minutes in Dorset, only for Mathis Vina to pull Gary O'Neil's side level just over 10 minutes later.
It looked as though Lampard's wait for a victory would drag on even longer as the contest entered the final 10 minutes, but January arrivals Badiashile – with his first goal for the club – and Joao Felix ensured Blues fans had something to truly cheer for the first time since mid-March, when they won 3-1 at Leicester in one of Graham Potter's final matches in charge.
Chelsea are mathematically out of contention for European qualification now, but Lampard has at least avoided the inevitable slew of '007' jokes which were threatening to come his way had it all gone south on the South Coast.
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression
‘England have the players to win the World Cup – it’ll be tough for Thomas Tuchel to do a bad job, with the squad he has at his disposal’ Former Three Lions winger backs new boss after gentle qualifying draw
