TO VICTOR THE SPOILS
BURNLEY... 1 CHELSEA... 2
IT says much for Chelsea’s lame title defence that this was the first time they had won consecutive games in the Premier League since December.
As has often been the case this season, it was still not an evening without its complications.
Chelsea deserved their victory. On the whole they played the better football and went about their work with greater gusto than a Burnley team who did not always reach recent lofty standards.
An own goal from Burnley defender Kevin Long gave Chelsea the lead in the first half and Antonio Conte’s team bounced back from a fortunate equaliser by Burnley’s Ashley Barnes shortly after the hour to win the game thanks to a low right-foot shot from wing-back Victor Moses.
This was not, however, a good night for Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata — and how many times have we said that this season?
Paired up front in an old fashioned partnership with Olivier Giroud, this looked and felt a bit like an audition for an FA Cup semi-final place up front against Southampton on Sunday. If that was the case, surely Giroud will play.
The Frenchman was industrious all night and showed a sure touch. Morata, on the other hand, missed a golden chance with the score at 1-0 and was then involved in a verbal exchange with Burnley fans after being replaced by Eden Hazard with 20 minutes to go.
Morata had not been found wanting for effort but his confidence is clearly on the floor. With one league goal to his name since Chelsea won those two games against Brighton and Stoke at Christmas, it would be no surprise if we hardly see him again this season.
These two met on the opening day of the season and Burnley’s victory pretty much set the tone for the campaign. Dyche’s team have eased along while Chelsea have produced not so much a title defence as a surrender.
Burnley’s run of five straight wins meant victory would take them above Arsenal into sixth place and hot on Chelsea’s heels. Strange, then, that they were so out of sorts for much of the first half.
With the spring heat lingering into the early evening, Burnley looked and played as though they were already on their holidays. We can only imagine what Dyche, with his eyes fixed on European football next season, would have made of that. Chelsea, on the other hand, may have an FA Cup semi-final to contest but they were much more effective than in recent weeks.
Conte made six changes from the team that came from behind to win at Southampton on Saturday and his decision to pair Giroud and Morata as a striking pair was interesting to observe. From the start, Giroud was the more impressive. The Frenchman has spoken of his desire to make a mark since leaving Arsenal in January and his two goals at Southampton had bolstered his confidence.
Here, Giroud was happy to drop off the Burnley back four, turn with the ball and look to play his partner in on goal. Twice he managed it in the first 20 minutes and on one of those occasions Morata eased clear to bring a low save from Nick Pope as he shot right-footed across goal.
Giroud also looked to run clear only to be denied a shot by Long. Replays suggested the Burnley defender may have fouled Giroud but real misfortune was to befall him in the 20th minute when a cross from the overlapping Moses was palmed by Pope on to Long’s midriff and into the net.
It was a lead that Chelsea deserved but there was fortune about it too. Long couldn’t have done much about it.
The setback at least roused Burnley a little and that in turn brought the home crowd to life. Giroud looked as though he might have handled a free-kick from Johann Berg Gudmundsson in his own penalty area before a volleyed cross from Matthew Lowton was only a couple of feet too far ahead of Barnes as the Burnley striker arrived on the six-yard line.
Chelsea came back before the break, though, and Pope had to save again from Morata before
N’Golo Kante drove a shot over from 18 yards.
Morata had the chance to effectively kill the game within 10 minutes of the second half starting.
Set free by Kante as Chelsea broke from a Burnley corner, the Spaniard sped away impressively but with Giroud free to his left he chose to shoot but side-footed the ball wide. Had he passed, Giroud could not have missed.
Either side of that incident was some Burnley pressure. There wasn’t a great deal of threat to Chelsea’s goal, and Thibaut Courtois had hardly made a save. But sometimes a bit of luck is what you need and when Gudmundsson shot from 25 yards in the 64th minute the ball looked to be heading wide before it struck Barnes on the heels and diverted into the far corner of the goal with Courtois helpless.
So Burnley had been lucky, but had Chelsea been unlucky? Not really. Had they taken previous chances the game would have been over.
Just as well that they responded almost immediately. A deep cross from the left was allowed to pass across goal to the far side and when Moses took aim with his right foot, his low shot beat Pope at the near post. BURNLEY (4-4-2): Pope 7.5; Lowton 6.5, Long 6, Tarkowski 6, Ward 6.5; Lennon 6 (Wells 87min), Westwood 6, Cork 6.5, Gudmundsson 6.5; Barnes 6, Wood 6 (Vokes 72, 6). Subs not used: Heaton, Taylor, Marney, Hendrick, Bardsley. Scorer: Barnes 64. Booked: Tarkowski. Manager: Sean Dyche 6. CHELSEA (3-5-2): Courtois 6.5; Azpilicueta 6, CAHILL 7.5, Rudiger 6.5; Moses 6.5, Pedro 6.5, Kante 6.5, Bakayoko 6, Emerson 6.5 (Zappacosta 84); Morata 5.5 (Hazard 70, 6), Giroud 7. Subs not used: Caballero, Fabregas, Barkley, Willian, Christensen. Scorers: Long 20 (og), Moses 69. Booked: None. Manager: Antonio Conte 7. Referee: Bobby Madley 7. Attendance: 21,264.
... BUT MORATA HAS A STROP AFTER
SHOCKING MISS