Burnley 2-4 Chelsea: Seven on the bounce for Lampard's men after devastating Pulisic hat-trick

Christian Pulisic repaid Frank Lampard's show of faith with a memorable hat-trick as Chelsea put Burnley to the sword in a 4-2 victory.

Willian was also on target for the Londoners, frustrated only by two late Burnley goals from Jay Rodriguez and Dwight McNeil.

Story of the game

It was an even start to the first half, with the first shot on goal not arriving until the 19th minute when Kepa Arrizabalaga caught McNeil's shot from an acute angle. Mason Mount had earlier seen a shot blocked after a driving Pulisic run.

But a Burnley error on 21 minutes gifted the visitors to lead. Matt Lowton lost the ball inside his own half, with Pulisic latching onto it, producing a couple of stepovers and firing past Nick Pope into the far corner.

Burnley responded immediately and should really have found a leveller. Ashley Barnes was guilty of spurning a number of excellent opportunities, first losing control of the ball after being released by a precise over-the-top pass with Jeff Hendrick waiting for a tap-in in the middle and then twice failing to direct close-range headers on target.

The Burnley onslaught also saw Arrizabalaga called into action to brilliantly push away a deflected Erik Pieters volley.

Chelsea then took the sting out of the game with a spell of an assured possession and began their push for a second goal, Tammy Abraham bending a shot narrowly wide after 38 minutes.

The second would arrive at perhaps the perfect moment - just before halftime. Pulisic struck again, this time via a deflection from Ben Mee, after Willian's pass.

Burnley needed a swift route back into the game early in the second period and they nearly found it when Barnes got in-behind the Chelsea defence but he couldn't make clean contact.

And it was effectively game over when Pulisic completed his hat-trick on 55 minutes, cleverly heading Mount's delivery past Pope even as he was facing away from goal.

The fourth was almost instant, prompting the departure of a handful of home fans. Abraham played the ball to Willian, who produced a fantastic cross-goal finish from around 15 yards out.

A fifth looked inevitable when Michael Oliver pointed to the spot following a supposed trip on substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi from Lowton, but a VAR check showed that the winger had dived, meaning the decision was overturned and he was shown a yellow card.

Burnley did manage to muster a late rally, kick-started by Rodriguez's spectacular long-range effort, which is sure to be a goal of the month contender. He had earlier been denied by a last-ditch Fikayo Tomori block.

McNeil grabbed another with the helping hand of a Tomori deflection, but though the crowd sensed the slightest opportunity, it proved to be too little, too late.

Takeaways

Pulisic seizes his chance

Pulisic earned his start tonight with a series of impressive cameos and, handed the opportunity he desperately craved, he underlined the frightening extent of his talent.

Even aside from his hat-trick (incidentally, he's the youngest player to score a treble in Chelsea history) Pulisic was magnificent. Nobody in Chelsea colours looked hungrier or more dangerous, in either a goalscoring or creative sense.

The man Blues supporters call 'Captain America' has all of a sudden made himself undroppable, in the immediate future at least.

Chelsea maintain their momentum

After a difficult start, this Chelsea team has really hit its stride. That's now seven wins on the bounce in all competitions, and they look set to defy the supposed handicap of their transfer ban with a top-four finish.

With each game a new facet of this team is emerging. Only three days on from their fantastic win in Amsterdam, they expertly steadied the ship after a spell of intense opposition pressure in the first half and proceeded to mercilessly kill the game. There was relatively little they could do about either Burnley goal in the closing stages.

Frank Lampard is dismissing his doubters.

Blip for Barnes

Ashley Barnes has been prolific throughout 2019 but here he misfired, and it cost his side.

The striker had four gilt-edged opportunities to either score or provide an assist, but each time he faltered. And predictably, the wastefulness was punished.

Burnley perhaps missed the injured Chris Wood, enjoying a richer vein of form.