Burnley 2-4 Chelsea: Hat-trick for Christian Pulisic as Chelsea impress

The United States international staked his claim for a more regular berth as he punished Burnley mistakes in the first half to put the Blues in firm control.

He then made it a perfect hat-trick as he headed in his third when the hosts could only half-clear a corner just before the hour-mark.

Almost immediately after Pulisic's third, Willian drilled in a fourth Chelsea goal as Burnley's 200th Premier League game ended in defeat despite late efforts from Jay Rodriguez and Dwight McNeil.

Late on came another sign that the bar for VAR overturning decisions may have been lowered with substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi booked for simulation after Michael Oliver initially awarded a penalty, but it did nothing to change the result.

This was a seventh straight win for Chelsea in all competitions, keeping them fourth in the Premier League table and now five points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal, who face Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Pulisic replaced Hudson-Odoi in the only change to the Chelsea side that recorded a notable 1-0 win over Ajax in Amsterdam on Wednesday, but that effort appeared to be in their legs in a lethargic start which saw Burnley doing most of the pressing.

But when Matthew Lowton stumbled on the ball just inside the Burnley half after 21 minutes, Pulisic pounced and raced towards goal, holding off the closing defenders to fire under Nick Pope to open his Chelsea account.

That opened up the game as Burnley immediately pushed forward.

Ashley Barnes, back in the side after a groin injury, spurned a couple of chances before Erik Pieters came close to an equaliser, with his 20-yard strike picking up a deflection to force Kepa Arrizabalaga into a superb reflex save.

Barnes then somehow missed from close range when Ben Mee headed a free-kick back across goal before Chelsea began to assert more control over the game.

Pulisic was at the heart of it again, forcing a fine save from Pope with a well-struck shot before seeing a close-range effort blocked by James Tarkowski.

But the £58million player got his second just before the break, with Chelsea again punishing a Burnley mistake.

Willian picked off Tarkowski's loose pass and quickly played in Pulisic, who beat Pope with a right-footed shot that deflected off Mee on its way into the corner of the net.

Eleven minutes into the second half he had a hat-trick. Lowton could only half-clear Mason Mount's corner and when the England midfielder sent the ball back in Pulisic rose to head into the far corner.

And before Burnley could gather their thoughts they were 4-0 down as Tammy Abraham found Willian in the right-hand channel and the Brazilian drilled a low shot beyond Pope.

Burnley could have crumbled but to their credit came forward again.

Just after the hour Rodriguez linked up with Barnes and raced towards goal, but Fikayo Tomori refused to give up the chase and made a superb sliding tackle in front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate.

Reece James then replaced Marcos Alonso and was immediately in the thick of things as he made blocks from Ashley Westwood and McNeil in quick succession.

VAR had its moment in the game with 15 minutes to go. Oliver pointed to the spot when Hudson-Odoi fell under the attentions of Tarkowski and Lowton in the area, but Stockley Park intervened to overturn the decision.

As stoppage-time loomed Rodriguez strode forward and smashed home a shot from 25 yards before a second followed soon after when McNeil's effort deflected off Tomori and in, a reminder that for all the threat they carry going forward, Chelsea still have work to do in defence.

Match highlights

Opta facts

• Chelsea have won their last six away games in all competitions – only once in their history have they won more consecutively on the road (7 between February-April 1989).
• This was the fifth time Burnley’s have conceded 4+ goals in a Premier League home game, with Chelsea doing so on two of the last three occasions.
• Chelsea have won four consecutive top-flight away games while scoring at least three goals each time for the first time in their history.
• Chelsea have scored 16 goals in their five away league games this season – only Norwich (17 in 1993-94) and Manchester City (20 in 2011-12) have scored more in their first five on the road in a Premier League season.
• Only Watford (34) have conceded more Premier League away goals in 2019 than Chelsea (30).
• Christian Pulisic became the first player from the USA to score for Chelsea in the Premier League, meaning the Blues have now had players from 36 different nations score for them in the competition (excluding own goals).
• Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic became just the second American player to score a Premier League hat-trick, after Clint Dempsey in January 2012.
• Christian Pulisic became Chelsea’s youngest hat-trick scorer in Premier League history (21y 38d), while he also became the first player to net a ‘perfect’ league hat-trick for the Blues since Didier Drogba against Wigan in May 2010.
• Willian has scored three goals in his last six appearances for Chelsea in all competitions, as many as he had in his previous 30 for the Blues.
• Burnley’s Dwight McNeil became the first teenager to score a Premier League goal against Chelsea since Marcus Rashford in April 2017.

As it happened

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