Chelsea breeze past Burnley to stay in pursuit of Premier League leaders, Arsenal

Chelsea kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a composed 2-0 win at Burnley on Saturday, courtesy of goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez. The result moved Enzo Maresca’s side to within three points of the top.

The visitors took time to settle at Turf Moor, but broke through in the 37th minute when Neto arrived at the far post to nod in Jamie Gittens’ precise cross. From that moment, Chelsea appeared firmly in control as Burnley failed to fashion a meaningful opening.

The home side pushed harder after the break yet continued to struggle in the final third. Chelsea’s advantage was secured two minutes from time when Fernandez slammed in the second, capitalising on determined work from substitute Marc Guiu.

“Tough game for many reasons, but they did not have one chance,” Maresca said. “Overall we deserved to win the game.

“I am very happy since I joined this club. When you lose one game it is a crisis, when you lose two it is huge crisis. But I am still enjoying it. We are in a good place right now.”

Maresca opted to rest key midfielder Moises Caicedo ahead of a demanding run of fixtures, including meetings with Barcelona and Arsenal. His absence contributed to a disjointed start from Chelsea, but Burnley could not take advantage.

Turf Moor has long been a favourable venue for Chelsea, and they arrived seeking a seventh straight league win there. Burnley looked bright early on but again lacked cutting edge, and Chelsea struck with their first significant attack as Neto headed home his fourth league goal of the season.

Neto later struck the post in a flowing move just after the hour mark, while Chelsea remained untroubled at the back. Fernandez eventually made sure of a third consecutive league win — and a third successive clean sheet — as Chelsea’s form continues to build after a mixed start to the campaign. They have now won five of their past six matches.

Burnley’s third straight defeat, all against London clubs, leaves them on 10 points from 12 games.

“I am pleased with the performance,” Burnley coach Scott Parker said. “We didn’t make poor decisions, we stayed in the match, but we could not make the pressure count.
“We need to hit a certain target and keep improving.”