Blues top after win

29 August 2009 18:31
Chelsea went top of the Barclays Premier League with a comfortable 3-0 victory over top-flight new boys Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Goals from Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole kept Chelsea's 100% record intact and left Burnley tasting defeat for the second time this season. Burnley had little answer to a rampant Chelsea but it could have been a different story had Martin Paterson not squandered a gilt-edged chance to put Owen Coyle's side ahead in the ninth 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 his touch let him down and Jensen grabbed the ball 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 but instead of shooting, the Burnley defender squared the ball to the unmarked Paterson who shot wide with the goal at his mercy. Chelsea finally broke the deadlock when Didier 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 Frank 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 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.

Source: Eurosport