… fans sing Roman Abramovich’s name

CHELSEA supporters may have used the occasion to serenade oligarch owner Roman Abramovich, as his ownership of the club stutters towards an inevitable conclusion, but that controversy overshadowed an afternoon of major positives for their manager, Thomas Tuchel.

The German coach rightly condemned his fans for their decision to chant the name of their outgoing owner during a minute of applause designed to show solidarity for Ukraine before kick-off.

And, not for the first time in recent days, it was hard not to feel sympathy for Tuchel as he wrestled with issues of geo-politics rather than being able to simply focus on what had been a devastating second-half performance at Turf Moor in which his team scored all four of their goals.

Even more encouragingly for him, it was the returning Reece James, starting a game for the first time since December 29 after recovering from a hamstring injury, who was pivotal in a spell of three goals in eight minutes early in the second half.

“You know, we missed him such a long time that we got used to it,” said Tuchel. “Nine weeks, and we had 25 matches in that time, so you’re constantly trying to find solutions.

“The team did find solutions as a team. We managed to win games and even a title in this period, but once he’s back and plays three times, from the beginning you see what you’ve been missing.
“Huge quality. How impressive and decisive he is. In training and now even in games. These positions are very important if you play with this structure.

“It’s a bit the same on the left side. It puts things into perspective when you see what we missed. I’m very happy that he came back.”
There had been no hint of what was to come in a first half in which Burnley missed good chances of their own, but, after 47 minutes, James broke the deadlock.

Trevoh Chalobah’s pass found the wing-back in space and he twice checked past hapless defender Dwight McNeil, creating room for himself to finish into the far corner with an angled drive.
Just five minutes later, James was involved in a move that ended with Christian Pulisic drifting a cross over Connor Roberts and leaving the unmarked Kai Havertz to head in from close range.

And the win was certainly secured shortly after when James again found room in the Burnley area and saw his powerful cross turned in expertly by Havertz from close range. Pulisic added to Burnley’s embarrassment after 69 minutes when Saul’s left-wing cross was poorly controlled by James Tarkowski who could only steer the ball straight to the US striker to score from four yards.

At the end of a week in which Chelsea staff and players have not only had to contend with political issues but also had a cup final and FA Cup tie at Luton to play, it was an impressive performance.
“It shows for me a lot of character,” added Tuchel. “That’s why I’m proud. It shows the guys have what it takes to play for Chelsea.

“It shows we have the environment to focus on football because we believe we are allowed to focus on football and do it as good as possible. That’s why I’m very happy.”

In contrast, Burnley’s capitulation had left their manager Sean Dyche stuck for words – no mean feat given his loquacious and intelligent analysis of games – and there had certainly been no sign of it coming during a first half in which his team gave as good as they got and wasted the best chance of the period on the half-hour.

Ashley Westwood’s mis-hit pass soared high into the Chelsea area and forced keeper Edouard Mendy into a poor punched clearance which fell directly to McNeil. The young winger took a controlling touch but shot high over the visitors’ goal from only eight yards.

Thiago Silva was also forced to clear off the Chelsea goalline in the first half, keeping out Wout Weghorst’s effort from Aaron Lennon’s cross, while Burnley centre-half Nathan Collins headed a McNeil centre over from six yards.

And in the closing minutes of the first period, Weghorst played McNeil into space only for the youngster’s poor first touch to waste another opportunity.

“We were completely in the game at half-time but conceded a really poor goal and it so clearly affected us for eight minutes,” said Dyche. “It’s just the madness of modern football sometime
“You can concede but it doesn’t stop you from doing what you were doing. I’m really confused by that eight or nine minutes.” (The Telegraph)