Chelsea beat Burnley 4-2 at Turf Moor to make it seven wins in a row in all competitions.
Frank Lampard handed Christian Pulisic a rare start in place of Callum Hudson-Odoi, and the USA international repaid the Blues boss' faith a hat-trick. Willian scored the other goal, as Chelsea consolidated their place in the top four.
Pulisic, a £58m signing from Borussia Dortmund, has struggled for regular minutes since his move to Stamford Bridge in the summer but he more than delivered on his first start since August as Sean Dyche's side were put to the sword.
Speaking after the game, the 21-year-old said he always felt he had the confidence of his manager.
"[Lampard] believes in me and he's told me that," Pulisic said.
"You have to keep working hard in training and earn my spot, that's how it is at the highest level. I'm going to continue to do so. This is hopefully just the start."
"Of course there is a sense of relief," the forward added.
"You could see that in my emotions after the first goal, that relief of getting my first goal and being able to help my team at this level. It's really good for me.
"I wanted to be on the field as much as I could right from the start. That is everyone's goal.
"But I didn't come here expecting everything to be easy and have an easy route and start every game.
"It's not always that easy. So I came in had to work for my spot just like everyone does. I'm proud of the journey I've had so far."
After Pulisic netted his second goal against Burnley, Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta was spotted celebrating with some extra vigour.
On a video posted on Reddit, the Spaniard can seen at the other end of the pitch after Pulisic fired past Nick Pope.
You can watch his brilliant celebration here .
