Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso scored the first goals in Thomas Tuchel’s era at Chelsea as the Blues beat Burnley 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Both defenders who were on the fringes under former manager Frank Lampard were brought back into the team by Tuchel and repaid the German’s faith in them with valuable goals to move the club up to seventh in the Premier League.
Tuchel was delighted to get off the mark at Chelsea and spoke post-match about the importance of the three points: ‘It was very important to get the win as it gives us a lot of confidence, otherwise like against Wolves, I would’ve had to convince the players that we are on the right track because again defensively and offensively it was a very good performance.’
However, the Chelsea head coach was under no illusion about his misfiring attackers: ‘It should be a signal to the players up front that we needed two defensive players to score today.
‘At the moment we lack precision in the last pass and the last finish but we will work on that.’
Tuchel’s Chelsea once again dominated the ball, just like in the midweek goalless draw with Wolves, but this time managed to turn possession into chances whilst also restricting the Clarets to zero attempts on goal throughout the entirety of the match.
The Blues started slowly but began to unpick the visitors midway through the first half. Callum Hudson-Odoi saw his goalbound effort blocked by James Tarkowski before the winger turned provider for the out-of-form Timo Werner, who added another to his catalogue of misses by shooting onto his standing leg from six yards out.
Azpilicueta managed to break the deadlock before the break after a swooping counter-attack saw Hudson-Odoi’s reverse pass powered into the top corner by the club captain.
The second half saw Chelsea continue their dominance and Hudson-Odoi, who was a constant menace down the right flank, was unlucky to see his deflected shot off strike the post with Nick Pope beaten.
The England international put in a second consecutive man-of-the-match performance from his new position as a wing-back and repeatedly saw his crosses cause havoc in the Burnley box.
In attempt to counter the threat, Ben Mee inadvertently deflected a cross towards goal but his blushes were spared by a magnificent reaction save from Pope.
Christian Pulisic was next to be teed up by Hudson-Odoi but like the others before him couldn’t convert as his shot was dragged wide.
The Blues did eventually get their second through Alonso. The Spaniard, who returned to the starting line-up for the first time since September, put the game to bed for the hosts in the 84th minute with a superbly taken volley into the roof of the net from a tight angle.
Chelsea now prepare to face bitter London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night and Tuchel was quick to acknowledge the significance of the fixture: ‘Everybody has told me already and there is no way I can miss the importance of that match,’ he said.
‘We will prepare for Thursday and go into the match looking to win.’
By Sajidur Rahman
