In a week when a domestic accident threatened Chelsea’s charge, they had no such problems at Burnley. Without the injured Cole Palmer, who fractured a toe after colliding with a door at home, they avoided a slip here, escaping without even a fissure.
There was the occasional early threat of a bloody nose, but even not at full speed, Chelsea were able to halt Burnley’s industry. Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernández were the match-winners on a day Chelsea did not make the most of dominating, but they have moved to three points off top spot with four wins in a row without conceding. A timely boost going into a big week with Barcelona and Arsenal to play.
“We are confident, we are doing well,” Enzo Maresca said. “We could have done many, many things better. It was a tough game for many reasons. Again, after the international break, 12 o’clock in the morning.
“They probably had one important chance. We conceded some chaos inside the box, but it’s part of the game. Overall, we deserve to win and we are happy.”
Burnley matched Chelsea for more than a third of the game, looking dangerous thanks to balls over the top that their wingers latched on to, but Loum Tchaouna and Jaidon Anthony never made a clinical decision when they mattered. They either wanted too long on the ball or sent loose crosses to no one.
“The first half I thought we were brilliant,” Scott Parker said. “The slight critical edge to us is maybe the half chances we have that maybe one falls to us or goes in or the final little bit of detail.”
Chelsea were sloppy in the early stages, unable to keep possession. Their front three came alive when the ball reached the edge of the box, offering neat touches and clever runs but without creating a chance of note. Moisés Caicedo’s absence from the starting XI, caused by a gruelling international break with Ecuador, caused problems in the their midfield and it took time to settle into a rhythm, but Andrey Santos eventually showed he was a worthy understudy.
Slow thinking was a wider problem for Chelsea as they risked giving away a penalty after Robert Sánchez seemingly took a goal kick to Trevoh Chalobah, who put his hand on the ball before restarting play. Burnley barely said a word on the matter, but with little else going on at the time, the incident at least brought some interest. “It does look like a penalty,” Parker said.
Chelsea finally found a groove and almost opened the scoring when Neto’s low cross looked destined for Jamie Gittens at the back post, only for Kyle Walker to intervene with a last-ditch tackle. The two wingers combined soon after to give the visitors the lead when Gittens’s curling cross from the left was headed home at the far post for Neto’s third goal in five league games.
It was an even half, but the goal summed up the difference between theteams in the final third. Burnley lacked the cutting edge whereas, even in moments of toil, Chelsea gave off the impression they could produce a moment of quality.
Marc Cucurella was causing Burnley the most problems. The left-back was allowed to drift inside and make runs beyond Liam Delap, regularly catching out the defence. The Spaniard played his part in the goal with one such action. Burnley were unable to track the defender nor stop him receiving the ball in dangerous positions.
Chelsea were able to find greater control in the second half, constantly putting Burnley under pressure. Where the home side had at least posed questions before the break, Chelsea were not required to provide answers.
A Chelsea second was far more likely than an equaliser. Burnley, who have lost three in a row, worked hard in an attempt to get back into the game, but fell short when it mattered despite an overhaul in attacking personnel. Chelsea were little better on a day Delap was anonymous, often floundering in the final third, but a quick break up the right by Neto resulted in Marc Guiu setting up Fernández to confirm the result.
