Burnley 1-4 Chelsea: Sterling shines as Palmer nets first Blues goal

Chelsea outclassed Burnley in a 4-1 win in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon at Turf Moor.

Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues came from behind to win successive games for the first time this season against Vincent Kompany’s team.

At 3pm BST on Saturday, Chelsea’s contest against Burnley got underway with the visitors in search of a good result on the road.

Possession in the early proceedings was dominated by the west Londoners, and their first sight of goal came when Cole Palmer’s long range strike sailed over the crossbar.

The next opening involved Palmer once again, this time he was the provider, picking out Raheem Sterling down the left hand side, the winger then cut inside and curled a powerful effort towards goal, but it flew wide of the post.

A quickfire response from the hosts then followed, despite the Blues’ early control, a counter-attack led by Lyle Foster found Wilson Odobert who shifted the ball onto his left and struck a low effort across the goal that was enough to beat Robert Sanchez.

While Chelsea’s control of the ball resumed following the goal, little was being created, it was the home side who looked more dangerous when going forward. On the break again, Marc Cucurella put in a challenge that halted the attack and saw him go into the book, a yellow card for Enzo Fernandez for dissent was then brandished.

As the Blues searched for a way back into the contest, it was Sterling who had the main opportunities. There were a couple of half chances that fell his way, but nothing clear cut.

The visitors had looked rather flat after conceding, and it looked as though they would head into the interval a goal down, however, they were brought back level when Sterling’s persistence down the left-hand side earned them a goal, the winger’s cross deflected off Ameen Al-Dakhil and was enough to tie the contest before the half-time whistle sounded.

In the second half, Pochettino opted to introduce Nicolas Jackson for Armando Broja, the Senegalese forward had missed the last contest against Fulham due to a suspension.

It was a perfect start to the second 45 for the travelling side, once again it was Sterling who was involved, he burst into the box and was brought down by Vitinho to earn Chelsea a penalty. Palmer was the man who stepped up for the Blues and he calmly slotted into the bottom right corner to score his first goal for the club.

As Burnley looked to get back into the contest, Kompany looked to his bench, introducing Connor Roberts, Luca Koleosho and Aaron Ramsey.

The substitution did not have the desired effect though, as soon after Chelsea extending their lead. Some fantastic battling in the midfield from Moises Caicedo saw the ball fall to Conor Gallagher, the stand in captain then played in Sterling who showed great composure and tucked away a well deserved goal. After a VAR check the goal was confirmed.

A two goal lead for the Blues looked very comfortable, but they made things even more relaxed in the 74th minute. A wonderfully executed attack which started with Sterling finding Palmer at the back post, Palmer then cut the ball back to Jackson, the 22-year-old then took the goal superbly, showing some fantastic composure before firing home to seal all three points.

As the game drew closer to the final whistle, Pochettino made another couple of substitution, bringing on Mykhailo Mudryk, one of the goal scorers on Monday night, for Sterling and then Ian Maatsen for Palmer.

It was a very comfortable end to the game for Chelsea, they cruised to the finish line and secured an emphatic 4-1 win on the road. Next up the Blues face Arsenal following the international break.