3 things that went right for Chelsea against Burnley

Burnley v Chelsea - Premier League
A tight affair!

Chelsea's visit to Burnley was a match that was extremely important to both teams.

Spurs' draw against Brighton meant that a win for Chelsea would see them close the gap to five points while a win for Burnley would take them to 6th position, jumping ahead of Arsenal.

Chelsea had to fight from behind last time around against Southampton as they came back from 2-0 down to win the match 3-2 while Burnley were coming on the back of a 2-1 win over Leicester City.

The visitors took the lead in the 20th minute as Victor Moses' cross deflected off Nick Pope, onto Kevin Long and into the back of the net.

Burnley came back fighting in the second-half and reaped their rewards in the 64th minute as Gudmundsson's long-range effort inadvertently caught Ashley Barnes' leg to go into the back of the net.

However, just 4 minutes later, Moses gave Chelsea the lead when Emerson's cross beat everyone to reach him and he fired it past Nick Pope.

A crucial victory for Chelsea to keep their hopes of a top-four finish alive.

Here are 3 things that were spot-on from Chelsea today:


#3 Bright Start

Burnley v Chelsea - Premier League
Chelsea started strongly

Last week against Southampton, we witnessed an extremely slow start to the game from Chelsea and they were lacking flavour until they went 2-0 down.

But this time, Conte wanted a strong start ot the game from his players and they delivered. Chelsea controlled proceedings in the first half and had the better goal-scoring chances.

Their opening goal came in the 28th minute as Pope could only parry Moses' cross straight to Long and the ball ended up being in the back of the net.

The bright start set the tone for the entire match.

#2 Emerson stepped up to fill Alonso's boots

Burnley v Chelsea - Premier League
Emerson shined!

Chelsea's worst fears were realised when Alonso was charged with violent conduct and was given a three-match suspension for a stamp on Shane Long in the match against Southampton.

The ban meant Conte having to start Emerson Palmieri, the January signing, who had played a paltry 15 minutes in the Premier League this season.

The Brazilian showed no sign of nerves and slotted in effortlessly on the left flank. He often made decent crosses into the box, targeting Giroud and Morata but they couldn't offer the end product.

He was defensively solid as well and made crucial challenges to nullify the threat of Aaron Lennon.

#1 Squad rotation

Burnley v Chelsea - Premier League
A crucial victory!

Conte decided to shake things up and handed starts to Antonio Rudiger, Palmieri, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Pedro and Giroud. This was largely due to their involvement in the FA Cup semi-final affair against Southampton on Sunday.

His rotation worked beautifully and even without the chief creators Eden Hazard, Willian and Fabregas, Chelsea did not fail to create chances. They troubled the Burnley defence continuously.

A win was absolutely necessary and the result took them to 5 points behind Tottenham and keep their hopes of a top-four finish alive.

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