Chelsea continues unbeaten run as they thump Burnley

Maurizio Sarri’s side were without their star Belgium forward and top goalscorer, who missed the game with a back injury. Unbeaten Chelsea coped without Eden Hazard to move second in the Premier League by easing to victory at Burnley.

Ross Barkley set up Alvaro Morata’s 22nd-minute opener, sliding a wonderful through ball into the Spaniard’s path to poke past Burnley keeper Joe Hart. The England midfielder then scored himself, sending a 25-yard shot into the bottom corner of Hart’s net just before the hour mark.

Five minutes later, he registered his second assist of the match, as he set up Willian, with the Brazilian cutting in on to his right foot and curling a shot past Hart into the same corner. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who scored a midweek hat-trick in the Europa League, added a fourth in injury time to seal the win.

Burnley, who stay in 14th, barely threatened and were reduced to chasing Chelsea’s shadows for much of the game. Chelsea is two points behind leaders Liverpool and one ahead of Manchester City, who play Tottenham on Monday night.

No Hazard, no problem

Sarri would have been looking for players to fill the goal void brought by Hazard’s absence. The exceptional Willian and Barkley more than made up for his loss, while Morata looked like a striker brimming with confidence.

Morata could easily have had a first-half hat-trick. Hart tipped over an instinctive header in the 12th minute, and after his opener, the forward ran on to a Willian pass and turned Ben Mee, but dragged his shot wide of the near post with the goalkeeper to beat.

More chances came for the former Real Madrid and Juventus striker, as he controlled a ball over the top from Jorginho and tried his luck with an acrobatic effort but sent his half-volley clear of the bar. Just after the break, he glanced over with a header at the near post.

Morata jogged straight down the tunnel as he came off in the 74th minute to be replaced by France’s World Cup winner Olivier Giroud, who looked as if he was on a one-man mission to break his club goal duck for the season.

Hart tipped his header on to the bar in injury time, and he then tried to guide an ambitious volley into the top corner. Barkley’s renaissance under Sarri continued at Turf Moor and the 24-year-old scored in his third straight league game for the club, the first Englishman to do so since Frank Lampard in February 2013.

Burnley gave Barkley and Willian far too much respect as the pair caused countless problems; the only blemish on the Brazilian’s afternoon was receiving a yellow card in the first half for diving.

An injury to Pedro in the 30th minute enabled Loftus-Cheek to come on and get some valuable Premier League minutes under his belt, while there was also time for Cesc Fabregas to make his first league appearance of the season.

Floodgates open for Burnley

The home side started the beginning of each half with intensity and took the game to Chelsea, but soon dropped off the pace as the visitors enjoyed almost 70% possession.

Sean Dyche’s side built last season’s success on their defence, but they have conceded nine goals in two games, having shipped five against Manchester City last week.

Neither Barkley nor Willian was closed down for their long-range goals, while Hart was needed to make a string of saves. Going forward, they managed just one shot on target in the match.

Burnley continues to struggle against the ‘big six’ teams at home and have taken just two points from their past 13 games at Turf Moor against those sides, losing 11.

They did show plenty of fight, exemplified with James Tarkowski and Morata’s running battle, which resulted in the pair getting booked just before half-time.

Dyche was at least able to give 90 minutes to two players who are fit again after long-term knee injuries, as Robbie Brady made his first appearance since December 2017 and Steven Defour also played.