Sunday Times

Burnley undone by Chelsea’s fluency

Brian Glanville at Stamford Bridge


PERHAPS the cruel alliteration could be, Burnley’s Bubble Bursts.
After that remarkable win over Manchester United, anti-climax was
inevitable.

Throughout this one-sided game, in which their Danish goalkeeper Brian
Jensen rescued them time and again, Burnley made only a single chance
and, alas, they missed it.

How should one describe the Chelsea formation? It was fluid but no
mathematical formula could really do it justice. This time, there was
no accredited winger. Instead, players popped up in attack in a
bewildering kaleidoscope of movement. You had Ashley Cole overlapping
on the left and scoring an exceptional goal soon after half-time,
Deco, showing up on the right, moving into the middle and Nicolas
Anelka often partnering Didier Drogba, then popping up on the right
flank. Was it a diamond or a Christmas tree formation?

Frank Lampard, in such impressive form, would often burst dangerously
into attack from the midfield and John Terry looked more like an
old-fashioned attacking centre-half.

Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea’s new manager, his English somewhat broken,
was explicably “happy, because we show good play on the pitch, we
played very well in the first half”. In training, he told us: “I
propose an idea, and the players develop this idea and they do this
very well now.”

He dismissed rumours that the club were prepared to pay €65m for
Bayern Munich’s French winger, Franck Ribery. “I don’t want to take
other players.” By contrast the Burnley manager, Owen Coyle, would
surely, if only he had the money, enlist more. Yesterday, it was only
the brave, resilient goalkeeping of Jensen that kept the score down to
three.

“Brian is a very good goalkeeper,” he said. “Our strength is not in
individual players, it is the group and Brian is part of that.”

An utterly essential part. Although they surprised United, Burnley
yesterday were pedestrian. In the second half, they moved Steven
Fletcher, a rare expensive purchase, from the right wing into the
centre, where he did his committed best, but support was not in
evidence. “There’s positives to take,” insisted Coyle, though Jensen
apart, it was hard to see where they came from. He was generous enough
to admit: “Chelsea’s play was fantastic.”

Jensen began his catalogue of saves as early as the third minute,
pouncing on Anelka’s drive from the right. But even he may have been a
little surprised he was able to thwart Anelka three minutes later when
the striker was clean through.

Three minutes more and Burnley had missed clumsily their one true
chance. Tyrone Mears, the right-back, advanced and neatly found Martin
Paterson on his left in abundant space. Paterson ineptly pulled his
shot wide.

Then it was Jensen: at the feet of Anelka, in defiance of the dynamic
Michael Ballack, stopping a header by Terry, then blocking Lampard’s
close-range drive. He followed this with a save from Deco, then
another from Lampard.

It was a bitter pill to swallow when Drogba, in irresistible form,
crossed from the right and the ball deflected off Clarke Carlisle,
then off Anelka and a post for a goal.

Immediately after half time, Chelsea put Burnley out of their misery.
Ballack closed in from the right to exploit Lampard’s cross. Four
minutes later, Cole’s electric run and narrow angled shot made it 3-0.

Needless to say, Jensen kept on saving. A header from Drogba, a wallop
from Michael Essien, a header by Ballack. It was one-way traffic
indeed.

Star man: Brian Jensen (Burnley)

Yellow cards: Burnley: Mears

Referee: M Clattenburg Attendance: 40,906


CHELSEA: Cech 6, A Cole 6, Carvalho 6, Bosingwa 6 (Belletti 66min),
Terry 8, Essien 8, Lampard 8, Ballack 7 (Mikel 82min), Deco 7, Drogba
8 (Kalou 75min), Anelka 7


BURNLEY: Jensen 8, Alexander 5 (McDonald 73min), Carlisle 6, Mears 6,
Bikey 6, Jordan 5, Elliott 6, McCann 5, Fletcher 6, Paterson 5
(Gudjonsson 58min, 5), Blake 5 (Guerrero 78min)


Kiev re-sign Shevchenko

Andriy Shevchenko, Chelsea’s 32-year-old Ukraine striker, inset, has
rejoined Dynamo Kiev on a two-year contract. Shevchenko failed to
settle in London, scoring just four goals in 30 league games,
following a record £30m transfer from AC Milan in May 2006. He spent
last season on loan with Milan


DIVE WATCH

Michael Ballack won a free kick for Chelsea on the edge of Burnley’s
penalty area early in the game with an elaborate tumble despite not
being touched. The kick came to nothing and once Chelsea were in front
there were no further theatricals




-------------------------------------------

Telegraph:

Chelsea 3 Burnley 0

By Oliver Brown at Stamford Bridge



Chelsea staged a rhapsody in blue as the expansive game that Roman
Abramovich has coveted for five years finally arrived at the expense
of poor, bewildered Burnley.

Carlo Ancelotti's much-vaunted diamond formation proved a precious
thing indeed as Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole
weighed in with the goals that extended the Italian's flawless league
record to four games.

A return of 12 points in Ancelotti's first month in charge but it is
the way in which they have been earned that is more significant.
Chelsea outpaced and outwitted Burnley in a peerless seven-minute
either side of half-time that would have had even Manchester United
and Arsenal's style councils all of a flutter.

Although Chelsea rapidly found their stride, Burnley were more than
ready to counter-attack. After Anelka had spurned a clear sight of
goal, his touch letting him down with only goalkeeper Brian Jensen to
beat, Martin Paterson had one of the gift of the first half courtesy
of a rare lapse from John Terry.

Tyrone Mears had the beating of Frank Lampard and raced into the
penalty area but, rather than shooting, elected to square the ball to
Paterson, who put his shot wide when it looked to far easier to put
Burnley ahead. Even the Chelsea fans seemed incredulous but Owen
Coyle, the Burnley manager, continued to offer more of his loud
encouragement.

It was ultimately to no avail, as Coyle's side found themselves pinned
back by waves of blue. The breakthrough was surprisingly long in
coming but Anelka, seconds before half-time, achieved it, surging into
the penalty area to convert Drogba's inch-perfect cross with a lunging
finish.

Chelsea were ruthless in pressing home their advantage, Ballack
pouncing for the second in the 47th minute as Anelka espied the
overlapping Lampard, whose ball was perfectly judged for the German to
angle a diving header beyond Jensen.

If that was a smooth move, it paled into ordinariness compared to
Chelsea's third. The build-up was effortless in its simplicity as Cole
ran on to a return ball from Lampard, executing a superb volley past
Jensen from a tight angle.

Michael Essien was the engine for all Chelsea's surges and almost
secured a goal for himself when his shot in the 66th minute forced
Jensen to leap low to his left and tip the ball around the post.



--------------------------------------------------------



Mail:


Chelsea 3 Burnley 0:
Swaggering Blues go top after romp at Stamford Bridge

By Ian Ridley


The modern Premier League has changed much in the English game - a lot
of it for the better - with its all-seater stadia and phalanx of
overseas players.
With Burnley back at Stamford Bridge, it was, though, a day to evoke
the past - and, thankfully, not the sort of scenes from a more earthy
era involving another side in claret and blue elsewhere in London in
midweek. Chelsea even had a brass band playing nostalgically before
kick-off.

It is 25 years since Burnley last played in the top flight at The
Bridge; on a midweek afternoon during a miner's strike when floodlit
games were prohibited, and with just over 8,000 watching. The result
then? Three-nil to the home side.
This one was certainly a strange 3-0. For 45 minutes, a resilient
Burnley, the season's early surprise packets, kept Chelsea at bay and
showed up the flaws of the hosts' diamond formation.

They stopped their full-backs rampaging and forced a frustrated
Chelsea to try to pick a way through a packed central area. If Burnley
could thwart them, what punishment might Manchester United or Arsenal
inflict?
But Nicolas Anelka's goal in first half added time was swiftly
followed early in the second by silky goals from Michael Ballack and
Ashley Cole - to embellish his man-of-the-match performance - and,
ultimately, Burnley deserved nowt, not even for the performance of
Brian 'The Beast' Jensen in their goal, who prevented a monstering,
nor for those shirts and hooped socks that evoke their title-winning
season of 50 years ago.

It was Chelsea's fourth straight win this season under Carlo Ancelotti
and their ninth in all, taking in the end of last season. It is not
just that midfield diamond formation that is echoing the Jose Mourinho
era.
'I am happy because we showed good play,' said Ancelotti. 'Now we have
to maintain this.'
The Italian is happy to contemplate the title, too.
'We have a possibility,' he said. 'We have started well. The season is
long and it will be difficult but we have the possibility to step up
when the chance comes.'


Survival, by contrast, will be the Burnley aim.
'It was a lesson at times for us in the way Chelsea passed the ball,'
said their manager, Owen Coyle.
'But I've thanked the lads for the start they have given us.'

It is beginning to look already as if it is home form that will save
them after two defeats away and six points at home, against Manchester
United and Everton. It might have been different had they taken a
marvellous chance with the game just 10 minutes old.
Frank Lampard was dispossessed, leaving his defence horribly exposed,
and Tyrone Mears broke forward before crossing low to an unmarked
Martin Paterson.
As he tucked the ball past the advancing Petr Cech, you waited for the
net to ripple. Instead, the shot drifted wide of a post.

'At 1-0 in front the pressure would have been on Chelsea,' said Coyle.
'At this level you have to take those.'
For the rest of the first half, they absorbed Chelsea's pressure
valiantly, their enthusiasm and togetherness serving them well. When
Chelsea did find a way through, Jensen was towering, saving at
Anelka's feet and beating away point-blank shots from John Terry and
Lampard.
For all their potential potency, cracks appeared in the Chelsea ranks.
Robbie Blake and Steven Fletcher tracked the runs of the full-backs,
Jose Bosingwa and Cole, leaving Chelsea looking narrow in their
approach play.

'We are,' said a Chelsea fan pining for a hero, 'missing Gianfranco Zola.'
Life may have long since moved on at The Bridge but you knew what he meant.

Finally, the goal that was harsh on Burnley arrived in the second
minute of added time at the end of the first-half.

With the visiting defence advancing for a change, Michael Essien
threaded a ball forward to Didier Drogba, who reached the righthand
byline before crossing low to the far post, where Anelka arrived to
guide the ball in off an upright after a stretching Clarke Carlisle,
having a brave and excellent game, had only been able to touch the
ball into his path.

'At 0-0 at half-time there would have been everything to play for,' said Coyle.

As it was, Burnley quickly found themselves out of the game at the
start of the second half with Chelsea's second goal. Anelka switched
the ball out to Lampard on the left and Ballack met his chipped cross
to the far post with a downward header past Jensen.
It looked to be a result of Ancelotti asking them at the interval for
more width in their game and their third goal, arriving within another
five minutes, also demonstrated it.
Essien found Lampard, again the creator, as his ball inside Alexander
found Cole, who guided home a splendid shot into the far corner as
Carlisle sought to block.

The defender said: 'It's my aim this year to score as many goals as possible.'

After that, there could have been more - and would have been but for
Jensen. Anelka clipped the bar after being put through by Ballack and
the goalkeeper twice had to make diving saves from Essien.

Mears also cleared the substitute Salomon Kalou's shot off the line.
Thus did Burnley escape with dignity just about intact in the face of
a Chelsea onslaught. So, too, did football in London on a day of
claret and blue-remembered skills.


-------------------------------------------------------


Independent:


Anelka adds finishing touch to Chelsea's finely-tuned machine

Chelsea 3 Burnley 0

By Mark Fleming at Stamford Bridge


The only way Carlo Ancelotti is going to banish the ghost of Jose
Mourinho is by matching the Special One's achievements, one by one. So
far so good, then, as Chelsea recorded their fourth straight Premier
League victory since Ancelotti took charge, matching the golden start
made by Mourinho in the summer of 2004.

Chelsea went on that season to win the title with something to spare,
and so far this campaign are fully justifying their pre-season billing
as favourites for the title. Few teams pass the ball as sweetly as
Chelsea. The ball zipped between the feet of Frank Lampard, Deco,
Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba as the home side worked the angles
to probe the Burnley defence.

Their football was crisp and incisive, and but for the hulking form of
Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen, they could have scored double
figures.

Ancelotti's Chelsea are still very much a work in progress, but they
are improving from one game to the next, and the signs are ominous.
Drogba's understanding with strike partner Nicolas Anelka is becoming
more instinctive; the midfield formation is bedding in well; players
like Ballack, Deco and Ricardo Carvalho have a fresh spring in their
step.

Ancelotti remained cautiously optimistic. "We have the possibility of
the title," he said. "We have started very well but we know that the
season is very long. It will be difficult for sure but we have the
possibility to step up when we need to. I propose an idea to the
players and they develop it. But we can still improve."

Last November Burnley's Carling Cup victory at Chelsea on penalties
gave the club the belief that they could live with the very best teams
in the country. Yesterday's return here however conveyed a very
different message, that despite their shock victory over Manchester
United, Burnley still have an uphill struggle to stay in the Premier
League.

They held their own against Chelsea for the first half-hour, but when
the opportunity came their way to pinch the first goal, they could not
capitalise. Frank Lampard, of all people, gave away possession to
Tyrone Mears who centred for Martin Paterson unmarked on the edge of
the penalty area. Sadly for Owen Coyle's battling side, he pulled his
shot wide.

Jensen tried to keep his team in the game single-handedly with
countless brilliant saves to deny Chelsea's superstars. His parry to
repel Michael Essien's long-range shot, followed by a reaction stop to
keep out a header from Ballack, were the pick of the bunch. Jensen is
34 but has yet to win international recognition with Denmark, which
can only mean they have some very good goalkeepers indeed.

Chelsea however continued to put their opponents under pressure. The
excellent Essien engineered the breakthrough, releasing Drogba down
the channel who centred for Anelka to score in first-half stoppage
time. There was a hint of offside about the goal, but Chelsea deserved
to be ahead.

Two minutes after the break, Ballack scored with a stooping header
from Lampard's cross, and Ashley Cole managed his first goal at
Stamford Bridge with a flashing half-volley, after a one-two with
Lampard.

Anelka hit the bar from close range, and Mears cleared off the line to
deny Kalou as Chelsea, who will not be able to call on Andrei
Shevchenko this season after his move to Dynamo Kiev yesterday on a
two-year deal, sought to boost their goal difference.

Burnley manager Owen Coyle recognised that his team had been brought
back down to earth after their surprising victories over Manchester
United and Arsenal.

Coyle said: "We are disappointed to lose 3-0 and that shows how far we
have come in a very short space of time. They taught us a lesson at
times, the way Chelsea passed and moved. But we will take our medicine
and pick ourselves up again."

Attendance: 40,906

Referee: Mark Clattenburg

Man of the match: Jensen

Match rating: 7/10



-----------------------------------------------



Observer:


Nicolas Anelka leads Chelsea past Burnley's defiant Brian Jensen

Chelsea 3 Anelka 45, Ballack 47, Cole, A 52
Burnley 0

Paul Doyle at Stamford Bridge


Chelsea helped themselves to their fourth win in four games with this
ruthless suppression of Burnley. Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and
Ashley Cole all struck telling blows and the margin of victory would
have been even more emphatic but for valiant goalkeeping by Brian
Jensen and wasteful finishing by the rampant home side.

Chelsea began briskly and Anelka loosened up with a long-range shot in
the third minute that brought an elementary save from Jensen. Thirty
seconds later the striker was summoned to set a tougher test for the
keeper, but narrowly failed to connect with a fizzing Ballack cross.
If that was forgivable, Anelka's miss in the sixth minute was the sort
managers are loth to excuse. After intercepting a careless pass by
André Bikey, Anelka had the whole Burnley half to himself but freedom
of choice appeared to befuddle the Frenchman and, as he sped towards
goal debating whether to shoot or round the keeper, Jensen surged off
his line to snaffle the ball.

Two minutes later it was Burnley's turn to pardon a defensive error.
Tyrone Mears dispossessed a dozing Frank Lampard on the edge of the
Chelsea area and showed impressive awareness to pick out Martin
Paterson in splendid isolation on the far side of the box. The striker
placed a low shot past Petr Cech but, unhappily for the visitors, also
fractionally past the post.

That was but a blip by Chelsea. With Deco probing at the tip of the
diamond and Lampard, Ballack and Anelka flitting hither and thither,
they soon regained control. Jensen hurtled off his line to deny
Ballack in the 21st minute, then watched gratefully as Drogba curled
the ball wide after a bustling run and shot. Then the Dane blocked a
John Terry drive after a Deco corner had broken to the England
captain. Soon he was beating away a Lampard volley.

After he clasped a long-range Deco stinger some in the crowd seemed to
ponder the possibility of Burnley keeping a third successive clean
sheet in the Premier League – but there was still an hour to go, and
with Chelsea continuing to attack in waves the gallant Burnley defence
was beginning to drop so deep they could have done with Scuba gear.

Just before the break, they were finally sunk. Drogba, who moments
earlier had teed up Lampard for an opportunity that the England
midfielder botched, scampered down the right before serving Anelka
with an invitation to score that the Frenchman duly accepted, poking
the ball into the net from two yards.

Any hope of a Burnley recovery was scuppered in the 48th minute when
Lampard raced on to a clever pass down the left and floated the ball
to the back post, where Ballack sent a diving header past Jensen. Four
minutes later Lampard and Ashley Cole rent the visitors' still-reeling
defence asunder with a snappy one-two and the left-back fired into the
top corner.

In between those goals Anelka had spurned another chance, and
immediately after the third he struck a shot against the bar after
rounding the now forlorn Jensen.

Three mighty Essien shots threatened to compound matters for Burnley
but the first, in the 68th minute, flew just wide from 20 yards, the
second a minute later was straight at Jensen, while the third, in the
77th minute, elicited Jensen's best save of the game, a flying
one-hander that enabled him to tip the ball around the post. Just
before full-time the substitute Salomon Kalou had a shot cleared off
the line.

When they could actually get the ball Burnley showed their inclination
to use it tidily but the closest they came to bothering Cech after
Paterson's early miss was in the 74th minute, when a neat move
culminated with Chris McCann slashing wide from 20 yards.

Yet to concede at home, Burnley are yet to score away. Neither of
those stats will last, but their destiny this season will depend on
which pattern is sustained more steadily over the entire campaign.


---------------------------------------------



NOTW:


Chelsea 3 Burnley 0


CHELSEA brought Burnley back to earth with a bang with a comfortable
victory to maintain Carlo Ancelotti's unbeaten start.

The Clarets are favourites for relegation but have been buoyed after
beating Everton and Manchester United already this season.

But they were no match for the Blues, who bombarded them from the
outset, and goalkeeper Brian Jensen had to be in inspired form to keep
the scoreline respectable.

Goals from Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole ensured
Chelsea retained their 100% record.

It was a performance that captured the Londoners at their best under
Carlo Ancelotti's attacking system.

Burnley clearly could not cope with it and at times Chelsea's play was
fluid, fast, and exciting.

It was, at last, the brand of football that owner Roman Abramovich had
been yearning for since he took charge.

Chelsea announced their intentions within three minutes when Anelka
tested Jensen with a 20-yard shot in the third minute.

Moments later, a mazy run by Ballack saw him fire a shot across the
face of the goal as Burnley struggled to contain the home side.

In the sixth minute, Chelsea wasted a great chance to take the lead
when Anelka robbed Andre Bikey on the half-way line and sprinted
towards goal.

But the France international's touch let him down and Jensen grabbed
the ball at his feet as the Chelsea striker looked to go around him.

However, Chelsea escaped in the ninth minute when Tyrone Mears robbed
Frank Lampard and sped into the penalty area.

The Burnley defender squared the ball to the unmarked Martin Paterson,
but he shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

It was a real let-off for Chelsea but they responded immediately with
Lampard putting Anelka clean through on goal. However, Jensen was
alert to the danger and claimed the ball at the Frenchman's feet.

In the 20th minute Ballack was foiled by a fine save from Jensen after
Deco's pass had given the German a clear opportunity to put his team
ahead.

Jensen then saved from captain John Terry and Drogba, with three goals
to his name already this season, curled a 20-yard effort around the
post as the Blues increased the pressure.

Jensen pulled off another reflex save on the half-hour when Jose
Bosingwa's cross was headed back to Lampard by Terry but the England
midfielder's volley was punched clear by the Burnley shot stopper.

Then, a superb run by Drogba down the left ended with Lampard just
failing to control the ball enough to fire past Jensen, who collected
the ball comfortably at his near post.

But Chelsea finally broke the deadlock when Drogba broke down the
right and crossed for Anelka to score from point-blank range.

Chelsea made it two in the 48th minute with a well-worked goal. Anelka
supplied the overlapping Lampard, whose cross found Ballack who
finished with a diving header.

Chelsea's third goal of the game arrived in the 52nd minute courtesy
of defender Ashley Cole.

In a move of elegant simplicity, Chelsea ripped open Burnley's defence
when Lampard and Cole exchanged passes.

The accuracy of Lampard's return ball allowed Cole the chance to send
an angled volley beyond Jensen.

In the 54th minute Anelka could have made it four but although he
rounded Jensen, his shot crashed off the top of the crossbar from just
two yards out.

Chelsea continued to flow forward effortlessly and the impressive
Michael Essien almost scored in the 66th minute but Jensen dived low
to his left to tip the ball around the post.

Jensen denied Essien again in the 76th minute when he punched away a
rising drive from the Chelsea midfielder.

Three minutes from time substitute Salomon Kalou was denied a goal
when Mears cleared his goalbound effort off the goal-line.

But it had been an electric performance from the Blues who enjoyed a
rapturous ovation at the final whistle.


Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa (Belletti 66), Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole,
Essien, Ballack (Mikel 83), Deco, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba (Kalou 75).
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Ivanovic, Malouda, Sturridge.

Goals: Anelka 45, Ballack 47, Ashley Cole 52.

Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Carlisle, Bikey, Jordan, Alexander (McDonald
74), Blake (Guerrero 78), Elliott, McCann, Paterson (Gudjonsson 58),
Steven Fletcher. Subs Not Used: Penny, Kalvenes, Thompson, Eagles.
Booked: Mears.

Att: 40,906

Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)


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