5 talking points from Chelsea’s season opener against Burnley

By
Niranjan Samanta
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Chelsea started off their new campaign with a rather humiliating defeat against Burnley. The match ended with a scoreline of 3-2 in favour of Burnley and Chelsea had two players sent off after both Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas were booked for dangerous challenges. While Gary Cahill’s challenge was a straight red in the 14th minute, Fabregas, on the other hand, received only a yellow for his rash challenge but it cumulatively added up to a red card as he had already been booked earlier for sarcastically applauding the referee.

We take a look at 5 talking points from Chelsea’s season opener against The Clarets:

1. Stamford Bridge’s history rattled:

The Chelsea boys set a new record at Stamford Bridge on Saturday but it was something that will certainly not make the fans very happy. All of Burnley’s three goals during the night came in the first 45 minutes and with that went three goals behind at half-time in Premier League at home for the first time in their history.

2. Not a good start for the reigning champions:

With the 3-2 defeat at home, Chelsea became the first reigning Premier League Champions to concede 3 goals in their inaugural match of the next season. And this was mainly down to the lack of responsibility from both Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas.

Read: Chelsea players’ rating against Burnley.

3. Double red cards since a long time:

The last time two Chelsea players were sent off the pitch during the same match was back in 2014 when both Willian and Ramirez were sent off against Aston Villa at Villa Park. The match also saw then Blues manager Jose Mourinho sent off to the stands for protesting a card shown to one of his players.

4. A perfect substitute:

Alvaro Morata came onto the pitch just before the hour mark and made an immediate impact. Within the next 10 minutes, the Spaniard scored his first goal for the Blues and then went on to set up David Luiz’s first and Chelsea’s second of the night.

And it is an interesting fact that Morata’s 22 goals out of his 41 in Europe have been scored as a substitute. A potential super sub for Chelsea? The Blues fans certainly hope not.

5. Not the Chelsea we know:

Last season one of Antonio Conte’s teams’ trademark characteristics were that they would slice open any sort of defense at will. But this season’s opening day saw a very different Chelsea. The Blues were unable to register a single shot on target during the first 45 minutes against Burnley.

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