Burnley 0-4 Chelsea: the winners and losers as Ross Barkley’s glorious form continue

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Chelsea extended their unbeaten run at the start of the Premier League season to 10 games with a 4-0 win over Burnley.

After a positive start from Burnley, Alvaro Morata gave Chelsea the half-time lead with an instinctive finish.

Ross Barkley doubled their advantage after half-time with a driven finish before setting up Willian for Chelsea’s third of the game.

And Ruben Loftus-Cheek capped off his goal-scoring week with a late fourth.

Here are the winners and losers as Chelsea move two points behind league leaders Liverpool.

Winner: Ross Barkley

Barkley’s Chelsea career just keeps getting better.

The Englishman was Chelsea’s hero against Manchester United last week, scoring a 96th-minute equaliser to keep the Blues’ unbeaten start to the Premier League season going.

And he was rewarded on Sunday, starting ahead of Mateo Kovacic alongside N’Golo Kante and Jorginho, and playing a part in all three of Chelsea’s goals. First, receiving the ball from Kante, the former Everton man took one touch before neatly playing in Morata inside the Burnley area – making the Spaniard’s mind up for him on when he had to finish.

Then, he doubled Chelsea’s lead in the second half with a low driven shot from outside the area into the bottom right corner of the net. In doing so, Barkley became the first Englishman to score in three consecutive Premier League games for Chelsea since Frank Lampard in February 2013.

And finally, he set up Willian for the Brazilian’s long-range effort, though that was more about the finish than the pass.

But it wasn’t just his goal involvement which made Barkley’s start so promising, the Englishman helped control the midfield giving his Burnley opposition very little time on the ball when the hosts had made such a pressing start.

Loser: Sean Dyche

Going into the game off the back of a 5-0 thumping at the hands of Manchester City, Sean Dyche wanted to shock Chelsea with a fast start and that’s exactly what they did.

The Blues barely had time on the ball in the opening 10 minutes with Burnley dominating possession and the attacking opportunities. Jorginho, key to Sarrismo, was suffocated in the middle of the pitch similar to how Manchester United combatted the Italian at Stamford Bridge.

But once Chelsea started to find their feet, the Clarets seemed to lose their gameplan and were overpowered with Robbie Brady and Johann Berg Gudmundsson not enjoying the freedom they did at the start of the match.

Burnley’s defence, which had dealt well with Chelsea’s attack, started to crumble with Morata, Willian, Barkley and even Kante all threatening to score at various stages only for last-gasp blocks to keep the scoreline down.

The defeat means Burnley have now won just two points from their last 13 home games against the Premier League’s ‘big six’ drawing twice and losing 10 since a 2-0 win over Liverpool in August 2016.

Burnley are also still just three points outside the relegation zone winning just two of their 10 games so far – some way off their Europa League finish of last season.

Winner: Alvaro Morata

Favoured over Olivier Giroud in the Premier League once again, it looked as though it would be more of the same bad fortune for Alvaro Morata with the Spaniard’s first touch particularly poor.

But Morata opened the scoring for Chelsea after 20 minutes, having been played in well by Ross Barkley, tipping the ball past Joe Hart from close range. The difference for Morata with the finish was he had very little time to think about what he wanted to do with the ball and instead had to rely on pure striker’s instinct.

This has been a big part of Morata’s struggles at Chelsea so far, over-thinking his moments on the ball, which leads to frustrations when things don’t go his way and defenders catch up. Fernando Torres had the same problem during his ill-fated Chelsea career, dwelling too much on his poor form in front of goal which bred more chances missed than goals scored.

The goal brought confidence to Morata and the Spaniard was taking more shots earlier throughout the game, when he might have previously wasted the chance. They did not go in, but he was making the opportunities.

Loser: Robbie Brady

Making his first appearance for Burnley since December 2017 after recovering a knee injury, Brady was thrown into the deep end against currently unbeaten Chelsea.

Things had started well for the Irish international, having some good opportunities to test the Blues’ defence with deep set pieces which had initially looked to worry Kepa Arrizabalaga.

But once Chelsea took the lead, and with it the control of the game, Brady’s influence waned with Cesar Azpilicueta taking full control of Burnley’s left flank both in defence and attack. When he did get back, he was booked for a cynical foul on Ruben Loftus-Cheek when the Englishman was driving through midfield.

Winner: Maurizio Sarri

Jose Mourinho couldn’t do it. Nor could Carlo Ancelotti or Antonio Conte – Chelsea’s three Premier League title-winning managers, all of whom went on to win the league in their debut campaign.

In beating Burnley on Sunday, Maurizio Sarri became the first Chelsea manager to remain unbeaten in his first 10 Premier League games for the club – the third time the Blues have been 10-games unbeaten at the start of any Premier League season.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the Italian with a last-gasp Barkley equaliser saving the run against Manchester United last week and better finishing from the likes of Huddersfield Town and Southampton potentially shifting their respective results.

But it does stand at 10 now for Sarri, with the Blues in a position few expected them to be in given the tumultuous summer which saw them sack Conte and bring in Sarri.

The last two times Chelsea started a Premier League season unbeaten in the their opening 10 games, they won the division in 2005/06 and 2014/15. Chelsea may not repeat the feat this time, but life under Sarri is looking promising.

Loser: Callum Hudson-Odoi

With Eden Hazard missing Chelsea’s trip to Burnley on Sunday, 17-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi may have fancied himself for space on the bench after a promising cameo in midweek.

But the youngster – or any other winger – was nowhere to be seen, meaning when Pedro had to come off injured in the first-half, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was the man to replace him.

Loftus-Cheek did do well on loan at Crystal Palace last season playing in a wider position and did nothing wrong against Burnley, just three days after his Europa League hat-trick, but this could have been Hudson-Odoi’s opportunity.

The youngster could have got 60 minutes of Premier League action under his belt to prove to Sarri why he is one to keep a hold of and get in the team soon.

The post Burnley 0-4 Chelsea: the winners and losers as Ross Barkley’s glorious form continue appeared first on Squawka News.



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