REECE IS James opens floodgates and
CELEBRITY Burnley fan Jordan North was introduced to the crowd at half-time following a gruelling 100-mile canal charity row.
Within 10 minutes of the restart, his side were left up a Turf Moor creek without a paddle as Chelsea struck three times. Sean Dyche’s Clarets side must have been ruing some golden opportunities, which would have made it an uncomfortable afternoon for their visitors.
Dwight Mcneil had been the biggest offender, firing over from 10 yards after Edouard Mendy flapped at a ball from Ashley Westwood.
Chelsea took a long time to come to the boil, but a scalding range of attacks allowed them to eventually engage cruise control.
And it all happened in the absence of Romelu Lukaku, who was benched, despite his winning FA Cup goal in midweek at Luton.
But, once again, Kai Havertz excelled in a central attacking role, helping himself to two goals as Burnley wondered what had hit them. Blues boss
Thomas Tuchel (left) said: “We remained very calm after the first half. We just reminded everybody what we want to do, reminded everybody where the spaces are, where we want to find the acceleration and where we needed to step up. It was clearly up front.”
On the events of the past week, he added: “It’s possible to block off what is happening.
“We had a brilliant match at Wembley. Even to make things harder, a disappointing result at the end. Still, three days later we were at Luton, a total different set up, a total different environment and circumstances.
“We were twice behind, turned it around, job done.
Three days later, Burnley, Turf Moor. You know what’s waiting – physicality, headers, second balls, fighting for econd balls, crosses, set pieces and again we stepped up.
“So, for me, it showed a lot of character. That’s why I’m very proud. It shows the guys have what it takes.”
It certainly was not Mcneil’s day as Reece James turned him inside out in a crowded penalty area after a neat pass from Trevoh Chalobah before firing low past Nick Pope two minutes into the second half.
‘Reece James, he is one of our own’ was one of the acceptable chants from the travelling Chelsea fans, who had sullied the pre-match minute’s applause in support of Ukraine with a repeated chorus of ‘Roman Abramovich’.
James’ goal opened the floodgates as the fear of relegation once again hovered over the home side, who are forever punching above their weight in an effort to continue their membership among the elite.
For Chelsea, there is still a topfour slot to nail down and a third successive league win in their 3,500th top-flight fixture won’t do any harm. Before Burnley had time to clear their heads, Chelsea had made it 2-0, James combining with Christian Pulisic to cross for an unmarked Havertz to head in at the far post.
Burnley were without skipper Ben Mee at the centre of defence and it showed.
James, growing in confidence, caused more problems on another break picking out Havertz to scramble the ball in virtually on the line. Chelsea were now scenting blood and in no mood to take their foot off the accelerator.
Mee’s replacement, former Stoke defender Nathan Collins, was culpable for Chelsea’s fourth, inadvertently directing a cross into Pulisic’s path and the American gleefully hooking home.
For Burnley, it’s about refocusing with Brentford coming up on Saturday.
Dyche (left) said: “We had the best chances in the first half and then we lose it in a mad eight or nine minutes.
“Believe me, I could have taken off all 11 players in those minutes.”