Chelsea’s Premier League title defence didn’t get off to the start that Antonio Conte would have wanted as the defending champions were stunned by a Burnley side who had won just once away from home last season.
The Clarets stormed to a 3-0 victory in the first-half, with Chelsea reduced to ten-men early-on after new captain Gary Cahill was given his marching orders, and their charge back in the second-period was affected after Cesc Fabregas was also sent for an early bath.
It leaves Chelsea’s already-thin squad looking in a very precarious position ahead of this weekend’s crucial clash with Tottenham Hotspur, where Fabregas and Cahill will both be absent, but there were at least some positives to take from the performance.
Alvaro Morata made his Premier League debut and continued a very fine record he has in his career, with his goal for the Blues ensuring he’s now scored on his league debuts in England, Italy and Spain during his career.
Chelsea will be hoping for a big return from the man they splashed around £70m for this summer and the early goal will give the Spaniard a huge boost in confidence, which will be crucial ahead of this weekend’s game at Wembley.
The biggest criticism of 24-year-old Morata so far in his career is that he’s never really been the leading man for any club thus far and questions have been asked as to whether he can fill Diego Costa’s boots at Stamford Bridge.
Former Atletico Madrid man Diego Costa boasts an impressive record of 52 goals in 89 Premier League matches for the Blues, which is far superior to Morata’s record at club level so far- as his compatriot has a combined total of 40 league goals in 126 matches.
The key thing though is that Morata’s efforts have largely come in a side where he isn’t the main man, as he’s been provided with plenty of support during his spells with Real Madrid and Juventus, whilst he’s now arguably Chelsea’s second-most important attacking asset behind Eden Hazard.
Those statistics can be taken one of two ways; either his return will improve when playing a more decisive role or he’ll struggle to establish himself as the leading man. One game won’t answer those questions decisively but a debut goal has certainly got him off to the right start, giving him the platform to kick-on.