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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Josh O'Brien

Thomas Tuchel and Kai Havertz in agreement after Chelsea's thrashing of Burnley

Kai Havertz and Thomas Tuchel were in agreement that Chelsea's 4-0 away win over Burnley was a show of "great character" as the Blues bounced back from last weekend's League Cup heartbreak and put an unconvincing FA Cup win at Luton behind them.

The two sides played out a cagey opening 45 minutes that actually saw Sean Dyche's men boast the better of the chances, only for wasteful finishing to keep the scores level.

But following the restart, three Chelsea goals inside 10 minutes put the game beyond any doubt, as Reece James' opener was quickly met with a three-minute brace from Havertz.

Christian Pulisic was gifted a fourth just under 15 minutes later when James Tarkowski's attempted interception fell kindly into the path of the United States international who lashed home with just Nick Pope to beat.

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Kai Havertz bagged two goals for Chelsea away at Burnley ((Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images))

Both the win and the manner of the result will please Tuchel given last Sunday's Carabao Cup final defeat was only followed by a comeback win over Championship outfit Luton on Wednesday.

After the game, Havertz revealed that a slight tactical tweak from the boss helped the Blues take all three points back to West London.

"We're very pleased. The result is very good for us. We needed these goals and the clean sheet. It was difficult, especially in the first half. It was important that we scored early in the second half.

"We switched our formation a little bit [at half-time] - I think that helped us. Reece’s goal was brilliant and it helped us a lot. We’re pleased about these four goals.

"The confidence is there. I think after the loss in the Carabao Cup final it was a little bit hard to come back, but we showed great character in the FA Cup.

"The first six months of the year were hard, especially the winter when we had a lot of injuries. We’re on a good run again and we want to keep that going."

Tuchel echoed the sentiments of his German playmaker by highlighting how his men did not dwell on the heartache of the recent defeat by Liverpool at Wembley.

"It shows a lot of character and that's why I am very proud. We played a very strong match at Wembley, we lost.

"Three days later we accepted a whole different challenge in the FA Cup at Luton, we turned the game around after twice going behind.

"Then we come to Turf Moor three days later and do it again."

Thomas Tuchel highlighted his side's character after the emphatic win ((Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images))

The Blues boss went on to address of some of the off-field issues that have dominated the discourse around Stamford Bridge given Roman Abramovich's recent statement.

The Russian billionaire has confirmed he is looking to sell the club after 19 years of ownership. However, Tuchel explained how every ounce of attention was on matters at Turf Moor.

"We were very impressive and I am very happy because it shows the character and that the guys have what it takes to play for Chelsea.

"They are focussed and obviously we have an atmosphere where they can still focus on football, which is good."

Clarets boss Sean Dyche was left to ponder what might have been after a promising first-half effort.

"The first goal affected us massively. We arguably could have gone 1-0 up by half-time," Dyche explained.

"It was a solid display with a lot of pleasing parts. Then we came out for the second half and conceded a soft goal that affected us. They capitalised and we didn’t.

"We just went away from what we were doing in the first half. Our shape and pressing were excellent, but in the second half after we conceded the first goal we lost it."

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