TheCable

Nigerian international midfielder, Victor Moses put in a man of the match performance, forcing an assist and scoring the match winner as Chelsea earned an away win at high flying Burnley 2-1 in a dominant display.

Burnley were unchanged from the weekend, while Moses, Bakayoko, Emerson, Pedro and Rudiger were recalled into the side, and Olivier Giroud got a deserved start after inspiring the comeback win at Southampton on Saturday.

Chelsea carried on from where they stopped at the weekend with positive football, Morata going close to putting the Blues in front but his shot was saved.

The Stamford Bridge outfit however took a deserved on twenty minutes through Moses’ doggedness on the flank. The Kaduna-born player got the better of Stephen Ward on the right and flashed in a low cross which central defender Kevin Long diverted into his own goal to hand the soon-to-be deposed EPL champions the lead.

Former Juventus striker Alvaro Morata was denied after the half hour mark to extend the lead but Burnley keeper Nick Pope diverted the Spaniard’s lobbed shot over. Kante went close and Giroud was denied a shooting opportunity in a commanding first half display.

The Clarets came out better in the second half but Morata missed a glit-edged opportunity, shooting wide when one-on-one with the Pope. The impressive Moses’ fierce drive from the edge of the area was also dealt with by Pope.

Searching for an unlikely qualification into Europe next season, Sean Dyche’s men equalized in controversial circumstances as Chelsea were denied a foul on Moses prior to the equalizer which came against the run of play four minutes after the hour mark.

Iceland midfielder Joey Gudmundsson hitting a long range effort destined for Thibaut Courtois’ hands until striker Ashley Barnes’ huge deflection took the ball into the other corner of the goal.

This sparked a perfect response from Chelsea and Moses, the marauding winger restoring the Londoners’ lead five minutes later. Olivier Giroud failed to connect a scorpion kick from a cross, but the ball ran through to Moses and the 27-year old squeezed his shot in at the near post for what proved to be the match winner.

Chances went back and forth for both sides but none was converted as Chelsea claimed revenge on their 3-2 loss at home on the opening day of the season to celebrate coach Antonio Conte’s 100th EPL game in charge and their first back-to-back league victories of 2018.