Match report
That’s three wins in three matches for the Blues, who are already off to a better start compared to last year’s dismal campaign. That’s all for now from me. Thanks as always for following along with us and do check back later for a full match report.
Full time: Chelsea 3-0 Burnley
One-way traffic at Stamford Bridge today. If not for the heroics of Tom Heaton between the posts, it could have been far worse for the visitors.
90 min+3: Amazing one-handed save by Tom Heaton as Chelsea nearly made it 4-nil.
90 min+2: Burnley win a corner but it’s cleared and Chelsea are on the break!
90 min: The fourth official signals for three minutes of stoppage time.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Burnley (Moses, 89 min)
The subs connect on an exclamation point as Batshuayi finds Pedro, who surges alone up the left side and floats a long ball across the pitch to Moses, who batters it past Heaton for Chelsea’s third.
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85 min: What’s transpired over the past five minutes could accurately be described as playing out the string. Chelsea have kept possession but don’t seem particularly interested in pushing for attempts on goal.
80 min: Two subs for Chelsea as Batshuayi and Pedro come on for Costa and Hazard.
78 min: Another quiet spell as Chelsea have appeared to take their foot off the gas. Who can blame them? They’ve hardly been pushed today.
76 min: Willian, the second goalscorer, is exiting the game to a standing ovation as Victor Moses comes on.
73 min: Burnley win three corners in the span of three minutes. All three are turned away in relatively drama-free fashion, but at least the Clarets are showing a pulse.
69 min: Marney goes down with an injury and Tarkowski takes his place for Burnley, the team’s third sub of the match.
66 min: Another corner off Costa’s shot but nothing comes of it. Chelsea continue to pressure here but don’t have a third goal to show for it. But with how punchless Burnley’s attack seems at the moment, it’s doubtful it will matter.
61 min: Another spectacular save by Heaton on a break by Chelsea. And another miss by Costa on the rebound. A busy afternoon for the Burnley keeper.
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57 min: A double substitution for Burnley as Gudmundsson and O’Neill enter the match for Arfield and Defour.
56 min: A Costa shot caroms off a defender and it’s out for a Chelsea corner. The ball is played to the top of the area and Hazard’s volley is sharply hit and saved by a fully extended Heaton. It probably should have been 3-nil there! Then Terry misses an easy put-back on the rebound.
55 min: Chelsea have kept it in the Burnley final third for what seems like five straight minutes. Really turning the screw now.
52 min: Another golden opportunity for Costa squandered as he shoots straight at Heaton after Matic served it to him on a silver platter.
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51 min: Willian’s free kick sails over Burnley’s five-man wall ... and keeps sailing and sailing far over the crossbar.
49 min: Diego Costa beats Keane but he’s grabbed from behind and yanked down. Keane shown yellow and Chelsea will have a free kick.
46 min: Back underway in the second half as Chelsea look to pick up right where they left off.
Some more thoughts Chidiebere Ifoh, via email:
So far, Chelsea are just so unique today. They have done well to control the tempo of this game, and have totally buried Burnley’s game. Yes, this may be expected - but this same Chelsea were thrashed unexpectedly last season. Surely, more goals would come in the second half! And lest I forget, that Willian’s goal was spectacular.... But what is wrong with Costa today?
JR in Illinois, via email, augurs disaster for Diego Costa in the second half:
Surprisingly I have to admit that Costa didn’t do anything in the first half for which he deserved to be sent off. Of course there’s still more than enough time left for him to do something dastardly and asinine. In fact, I’m anticipating it.
Half-time: Chelsea 2-0 Burnley
Goals from Hazard and Burnley are the difference as Chelsea have come out swinging and are 45 minutes away from nine points in three matches. More to come from Stamford Bridge.
45 min: Ivanovic shown yellow for a foul near the touchline. The fourth official signals for one minute of stoppage time.
43 min: Burnley respond almost immediately with their first attempt of the afternoon. Arfield’s shot across the keeper misses the far post by inches.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Burnley (Willian, 42 min)
And there’s the second. The ball is swung to Willian on the right side of the area. He takes his defender on 1 v 1 and uncorks a shot toward the far post that’s good for a goal!
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40 min: A long back into the area from Willian finds Cahill, who heads it onto goal but it’s easily collected by Heaton.
37 min: Willian finds a cutting Oscar, who passes back to Diego Costa, whose shot on goal from point-blank range is saved by Heaton. A fine chance, that. Really should have been a second.
34 min: A quiet spell here for both sides but Chelsea continue to dominate possession.
30 min: Oscar shown yellow by referee Mark Clattenberg for a two-footed challenge on Vokes. A half hour down here and Chelsea looking very good.
27 min: The sun emerges from behind the clouds just as Chelsea win yet another corner. This time it’s played into the center, where John Terry heads a sharply angled attempt on goal – but Heaton is well positioned to make the save.
23 min: Chelsea win a corner but it’s headed away by Keane.
20 min: More of the same from Chelsea, who are dominating possession even if they don’t have a bevy of chances to show for it.
18 min: Eden Hazard has now scored two goals in three Premier League appearances this season after scoring four in 31 last year.
15 min: It’s all Chelsea through the first quarter hour at Stamford Bridge. Just moments ago Hazard nearly made it 2-0, but Mee cleared it his attempt off the line.
11 min: Chelsea win a corner with momentum to burn, but it’s turned away.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Burnley (Hazard, 9 min)
And just like that! Burnley concede in midfield with players already committed forward and Hazard barrels down the pitch with the ball on a head of steam, cuts to his right outside the area and boots it past the keeper inside the far post. What a goal.
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8 min: Little to no high pressure from Chelsea, who are withdrawing and restoring their shape as soon as they concede possession.
6 min: Arfield looks to cross into the middle while under duress, but the ball merely trickles into the area and is easily collected by Courtois.
4 min: A bit of a timid opening from both sides as they trade possession mostly in the middle third. Nothing resembling a chance for either early on.
1 min: And we’re off! Chelsea in tradition all-blue home strips attacking from left to right, Burnley in claret shirts and white shorts going right to left.
About 10 minutes to kick-off. Here are some facts ahead of today’s match courtesy of the Premier League:
- Burnley have collected only two points from 11 previous visits to London in the Premier League (W0 D2 L9), scoring six times and conceding 28 goals.
- Clarets midfielder George Boyd has ran the furthest (24.9km) and made the most sprints (166) in the Premier League so far this season.
- The Clarets have failed to win any of their previous four Premier League meetings with Chelsea and haven’t won a league game at Stamford Bridge since 1971.
- Chelsea could record successive home wins in the Premier League, having failed to do so throughout last season.
- The Blues have conceded at least one goal in each of their last 13 league matches at Stamford Bridge since beating Norwich 1-0 in November 2015. It’s their longest run without a clean sheet since a 25-match spell in 1960-61.
- Antonio Conte is currently unbeaten in 29 successive league home matches as a club manager (W27 D2 L0), last suffering a home defeat in January 2013 (Juventus 1-2 Sampdoria).
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Hello and welcome to today’s match between Chelsea and Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Kick-off is just over a half hour away so let’s get right to today’s teams.
Chelsea
XI: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Kante; Willian, Oscar, Matic, Hazard; Diego Costa
Subs: Begovic, Aina, Fabregas, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Pedro, Batshuayi
Burnley
XI: Heaton (c), Ward, Mee, Keane, Lowton, Arfield, Marney, Defour, Boyd, Vokes, Gray
Subs: O’Neill, Darikwa, Tarkowski, Gudmundsson, Robinson, Kightly, Jutkiewicz
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s why the summer transfer market is frustrating Antonio Conte:
Antonio Conte has admitted he does not expect Chelsea to be able to secure his first-choice transfer targets before Wednesday’s deadline, with the club having now turned their attentions to the Fiorentina full-back Marcos Alonso as they seek to bolster their defensive ranks.
Chelsea have signed only two players since Conte’s arrival – Michy Batshuayi from Marseille and N’Golo Kante from Leicester City – despite the hierarchy having indicated this summer they expected to bring up to six significant signings into the club in the wake of last season’s 10th place finish.
Yet those efforts have been frustrated to date as time ticks down towards the cut-off. “I must be honest, I think we’ll have a problem to reach our [transfer] targets” said Conte. “I still hope with this transfer market to improve the squad and the team with some new players, but we understand our targets are very difficult to reach. But we have a game against Burnley for now which is more important than the transfer market. Then, after that, I hope [moves are made to secure] some more players than now before the deadline.”
Chelsea cannot offer European football to prospective targets this season and, with only six days of the transfer window remaining, are chasing a number of alternative targets having missed out on Conte’s preferred choices. Bids for both Kalidou Koulibaly and Alessio Romagnoli were rejected by Napoli and Milan respectively this week with Conte, forced to improvise, having surprisingly turned his attention since to Alonso.
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