Chelsea captain Reece James saved his side a point with a 95th-minute free kick to secure a 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Tuesday.

Second-half substitute James, who returned at the weekend after a long injury layoff, beat goalkeeper Mark Travers with a perfectly placed curling shot into the far corner of the net.

However, the hosts, who dominated much of the game and scored a first-half goal through Cole Palmer, fell two points short before Bournemouth responded with a Justin Kluivert penalty early in the second period.

Palmer scored his 14th Premier League goal of the season after receiving a well-weighted ball from Nicolas Jackson, who had broken free of three Bournemouth midfielders on the halfway line.

The Chelsea talisman then sent Travers to the ground with a small dummy and rolled the ball into his net.

Chelsea had several chances to extend their lead in the first half through Jackson, Palmer and Enzo Fernández.

Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

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But they let the visitors back into the game three minutes into the second half when Moisés Caicedo brought down Antoine Semenyo in the penalty area and Kluivert sent Robert Sánchez the wrong way from the penalty spot.

There was a stunned silence among the Stamford Bridge supporters in the 67th minute as Semenyo rounded 18-year-old defender Josh Acheampong and sent a rocket past goalkeeper Sánchez just wide of the post.

Travers kept Bournemouth in front and stopped shots from Jackson, who was busy all night but couldn’t get a ball past the goalkeeper and the visitors looked dangerous on the counter-attack.

James, a Chelsea academy product who has been plagued by injuries all season, roared with celebration and relief as his free-kick found the net with three more minutes to play.

Chelsea, who have failed to win in their last five league games, remain fourth in the table with 37 points from 21 games, while Bournemouth are seventh with 34 points.