Burnley - Chelsea was extremely telling when it came to the gulf in class between the two teams.
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Given their respective resources, that shouldn’t be surprising but Chelsea were ruthless as they recorded a shutout plus Hakim Ziyech, Kurt Zouma and Timo Werner were all on target.
The only negative for Frank Lampard was an injury to USMNT star Christian Pulisic, who was injured in the warm up and looked extremely frustrated as he was pulled from the starting lineup.
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Burnley have now lost five of their opening six games of the season, as Sean Dyche will now see winnable games coming up as ‘must win’ as the Clarets are bottom of the table.
3 things we learned: Burnley - Chelsea
1. Zouma, Silva developing after fourth clean sheet: Four clean sheets on the spin should not be overlooked. Chelsea are fixing their main problem and the center back partnership between Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma looks very promising. Edouard Mendy behind them in goal has given them extra confidence. This was the first time since Lampard took charge last summer that they’ve recorded back-to-back shutouts. That’s huge for confidence. We know they are great going forward and have so many options.
2. Ziyech leads way after Pulisic injury: Ziyech scored his first PL goal and had an assist for Werner, as the Moroccan winger is showing his experience and led by example with Christian Pulisic out injured. Ziyech, 27, is one of the elder statesmen at Chelsea and his clever finish and assist proved that. He brings something very different to this Chelsea attack as he drifts inside and allows over to make runs wide.
3. Battered Burnley set for battle: This has been a tough start to the season for the Clarets, both in terms of injuries and form on the pitch and their situation off it. Sean Dyche’s side were outclassed by Chelsea and even though there is talk of a takeover about to be completed, there is a lot of focus on one thing: staying in the Premier League. They face Brighton and Crystal Palace next and simply have to win those two games, are at least get four points, to get their season off and running.
Man of the Match: Thiago Silva - A classy display from the experienced center back who stopped everything Burnley chucked at him. Chelsea’s defense looks better when he plays.
Ashley Barnes flicked the ball over Edouard Mendy with the first big chance of the game, as the Chelsea goalkeeper did enough to put him off.
Chelsea sprung into life after a slow start as Werner and Abraham combined to set up Ziyech and his low shot wrong-footed Nick Pope and found the net.
Ziyech’s first Premier League goal was a really smart one.
After that opener Chelsea controlled the game and Burnley whipped in a few dangerous crosses but Edouard Mendy and Thiago Silva held firm.
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Ashley Barnes flashed a shot wide in the second half as Burnley improved after Jay Rodriguez came off the bench.
Chelsea put the game to bed relatively early on as Kurt Zouma powered home a header from Mason Mount’s corner as the French center back continues his solid start to this season.
A fluid Chelsea move then saw Reece James grab the ball and surge forward, as he played in Ziyech who found Werner to sweep home.
Late on Chelsea toyed with Burnley as the Clarets ended the game in damage limitation mode.