Football

Christian Pulisic was ordered to make a difference – and his Chelsea hat-trick was the perfect response


Christian Pulisic was ordered to make a difference by Frank Lampard – and his perfect hat-trick certainly ticked that box.

The United States international was sent on in midweek with those words from his boss ringing in his ears – and came up trumps again in stunning fashion at Turf Moor.

Lampard urged him to pull something out of the bag during the Champions League tie at Ajax, and the striker did just that, setting up Michy Batshuayi for the late winner.

And that clearly worked wonders for the American’s confidence as he ripped the sorry Clarets to shreds.

In so doing he helped his club to their seventh victory on the spin – their best winning streak in over two-and-a-half years.

Pulisic receives his match ball after a perfect performance

Lampard got what he wanted out of Pulisic

And when Pulisic found the net with a lovely back-header to kill off the game early in the second-half, he also set a club record. That goal was the fourth successive match on their travels that the Blues had scored three or more.

It was an evening in east Lancashire when pretty much everything Pulisic did worked out.

His first goal went through the legs of two defenders, his second took a deflection and the cross from Mason Mount that allowed him to claim his hat-trick was tailor-made.

But they were also three finishes of quality that gave glimpses of why it was that Chelsea were prepared to gamble with so much of the money that they knew they were going to receive when Eden Hazard decided to allow his contract to run down.

The goals would certainly have been welcomed by Lampard but, to the watching world, would have been a surprise as the forward has struggled to find any form at all since arriving at the club during the summer following a £58m switch from Borussia Dortmund.

Pulisic fires home his first goal of the game

Pulisic looked back to his best with Chelsea

Indeed, two weeks ago he was reduced to tears after being substituted for his country during an international against Canada.

That prompted suggestions he was struggling to adapt to life in the Premier League, both with the price tag and the fact that he had made a limited impact on Chelsea’s campaign so far.

Pulisic was the stand-out performer in the opening 45 minutes – as he mixed up his position on the pitch, confused the Clarets and bagged his first Premier League goals for the club.

Sean Dyche’s men had started brightly but that was undone approaching the midway point of the half when right-back Lowton dithered in midfield and was robbed by the United States international.

He drove towards goal as Burnley’s defence covered with James Tarkowski trying to cut him off.

Pulisic heads home to complete his perfect hat-trick

Pulisic celebrates his hat-trick alongside Abaraham

But he managed to earn himself a shooting chance on his left foot, drilling across Pope into the bottom corner.

The strike was celebrated with gusto by Lampard’s players who realised the release of pressure that had been building on the striker’s shoulders since his move from the Bundesliga in January.

As if stung by that Burnley threw everything they could at Kepa who saved Erik Pieters’ deflected shot before Ashley Barnes wasted two good chances from headers.

That was to be as close as the hosts could get as they fell further behind on the stroke of half-time as Pulisic tried his luck from the right-hand side of the box after bearing down on goal, the ball defeating Nick Pope by deflecting off the knee of Ben Mee.

Burnley had to take chances to repair the damage early in the second-half but slack defending cost them again. Mason Mount had the ball returned to him from a corner and he swung the ball over where Pulisic guided the ball into the net with the back of his head.

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Within two minutes, Willian had added the fourth, rubbing salt into the wounds before referee Michael Oliver awarded a penalty after Callum Hudson-Odoi went to ground.

VAR was consulted with the Northumberland official reversing his decision and cautioned the England international for diving although he claimed to have taken a push in the back from Lowton.

The evening’s drama was not over, however as the Clarets scored twice in the dying moments to give them a reward their overall efforts deserved.

But not even Jay Rodriguez’s superb 25-yarder, nor Dwight McNeil’s deflected effort were enough to take the spotlight from Pulisic.





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