Burnley vs Chelsea result: Five things we learned as Blues earn impressive win to rise to fifth
Chelsea beat Burnley 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday in extremely comfortable fashion.
Frank Lampard’s side opened the scoring midway through the half after a lovely move through midfield and then down the right ended in Tammy Abraham laying the ball off for Hakim Ziyech, who finished well.
Burnley tried to get more players into attacking positions after the break but clear chances were in short supply, with James Tarkowski firing over, but a thunderous header from Kurt Zouma after the hour mark killed the game.
A sweeping move then ended with Timo Werner side-footing a third, before Olivier Giroud had a late strike ruled out for offside.
Here are five things we learned from the game at Turf Moor.
All out attack
Frank Lampard certainly went with a bold line-up, opting for two attackers in the midfield line in Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, either side of N’Golo Kante.
It could have left the middle of the park exposed if those in blue hadn’t matched the work rate of the home side, but huge credit should go to the two No. 8s for their endeavour - as well as the front line players dropping in with regularity to make challenges.
Mount put himself around the park with tenacity, sliding into challenges and shouldering the Burnley midfield four off the ball, while Havertz was clever with his anticipation and interceptions to win back the ball, then having space and time to pass forward with ease.
Add in the full-backs pushing on with regularity on both sides and it was a constant wave of pressure from the away side.
Shot-shy Clarets
An entire 90 minutes at home and not a single shot on target.
Edouard Mendy was largely untroubled all game, taking a couple of high balls well and rushing out to close down Ashley Barnes early on, but aside from that he was a bystander.
Sean Dyche’s team were only averaging 11 shots a game even before this - only six teams have fewer this season - and a tally of five against Chelsea never looked like earning them a point.
Six games, three goals scored, one point earned - it has been a dismal start for the Turf Moor club to 2020/21.
Ziyech starts to shine
After a goal in midweek, former Ajax attacker Hakim Ziyech now also is off the mark in the Premier League.
In fact, he was perhaps Chelsea’s biggest star for the 72 minutes he played before being subbed, as he gets back to top fitness levels.
A first league strike was well-taken, tucked inside the near post after being involved in the build-up too, and he also showed his creative side with an assist for the third goal, freeing Timo Werner into space on the left side of the box.
A goal in each of his first two starts makes him the first player to do so for the club since Diego Costa.
Pope off-colour
Nick Pope has been pushing to be the England No. 1, but this performance was a poor one overall and not the type of display to push his claims.
For the opening goal he was horribly wrong-footed, perhaps anticipating a shot across to the far post and instead being caught flat as the ball ended up almost in the centre of his goal.
Later there was a cross from left for which he was wrongly positioned and misjudged the flight of, while some of his distribution was similarly poor.
James Tarkowski in front of him was largely decent, but they need Ben Mee back fast - and Pope to find top form with consistency.
Opposite end struggles
Burnley have dropped to bottom of the table and are likely to be in the bottom three until well into November, with the international break fast approaching.
It makes next weekend’s game against Brighton of the utmost importance, given they are one of the few teams still within touching distance of the Clarets even at this early stage.
As for Chelsea, Lampard will be looking up the table now; it’s naturally tight at this point six games in and a run of two or three wins on the bounce can quickly make a difference with other sides showing inconsistency.
Sheffield United and Newcastle are the next league games, both winnable if the Blues play in this way, and should that be the case then talk will quickly start again not just about the Champions League spots, but whether the new investment can lead to a sustained title challenge.
There’s lots to sort before that and consistency will tell all, but this was a big step forward for Chelsea.
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