Full Time: Burnley 1-2 Chelsea
Chelsea kept up the pressure on Tottenham for a top-four spot after a 2-1 win over Europa League hopefuls Burnley. Playing away at Turf Moor was never going to be easy but we did get the important win and cut the Spurs’ lead to five points.
Antonio Conte made six changes to the side and even rested Willian and Cesc Fabregas. One of the talking points was Conte starting with two strikers, Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud, something we had not done for many years.
Nevertheless, it was Kevin Long, the Burnley player who opened the scoring for us via an own goal. The home side were never going to take this lying down and Ashley Barnes equalised in the second half. However, Victor Moses scored the winner for us in the 69th minute.
With the FA Cup semi-final against Southampton at the weekend, Chelsea go into the game with a lot of confidence, having picked up back-to-back wins. The Blues, however, will hope for a better performance on Sunday.
Chelsea Player Ratings
Thibaut Courtois – 6/10
The Belgian couldn’t do much to stop the goal from Barnes, given that it was deflected. Else, there was very little for Courtois to do.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 7.5/10
A typical Azpilicueta performance. Solid at the back and never looked like he was in trouble.
Gary Cahill – 7.5/10
Cahill was pretty good for us as he made a number of important blocks and also a number of challenges to keep Burnley at bay.
Antonio Rudiger – 7/10
The German was rested for the Southampton game last week but he did pretty well in this game and he won the ball on a number of occasions in the second half.
Victor Moses – 8.5/10
Moses was brilliant in the first half as he bombed forward at will and also did his defensive duties. His goal capped off a great night and gave us three important points.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 6.5/10
Bakayoko didn’t look all that great, to be honest, and still needs time in the team if we are to see his best.
N’Golo Kante – 7/10
This was another dominant Kante performance but only in the first half. He looked a little off in the second and was replaced.
Emerson Palmieri – 8/10
Fans will wonder why Emerson has not started a Premier League game sooner as he was brilliant in the first half with his crosses. He even set up Moses for the winner.
Pedro – 7/10
Pedro played in a deeper position and got to see more of the ball and seemed to enjoy the role. The Spaniard did have some great runs and passes.
Alvaro Morata – 5/10
This was another tough night for Morata as he missed a sitter in the second half. He reacted angrily to being subbed and it will be interesting to see if he plays in the FA Cup semi-final.
Olivier Giroud – 7/10
Giroud linked up really well with Morata but the vice versa cannot be said so. The Frenchman also did well when Eden Hazard was brought on in the second half.
Substitutes
Eden Hazard – 6/10
Hazard looked bright coming off the bench and wanted to score. However, he just could not get that goal.
Davide Zappacosta – N/A
Zappacosta was a late sub in the game and didn’t have a lot of time to make an impact.