Football

Christian Pulisic’s hat-trick fires Chelsea to seventh consecutive victory


It was a magnificent seventh for Frank Lampard and a glorious, if belated, start for Christian Pulisic. Chelsea gave their rookie manager a seventh straight win, taking them level on points with Leicester. The transformation of an ageing team has been propelled by homegrown youngsters, and a potentially tricky trip to Turf Moor became a sweet affair for the 21-year-old from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Pulisic’s first Chelsea goals were a perfect hat-trick, in more ways than one, scored with his left foot, his right and his head, capping a stunning display. It offered ample evidence of why Chelsea paid £58m for him and brought the rare sound of their fans chorusing: “USA, USA.”

“I am absolutely delighted for him,” Lampard said. “It was a fantastic match-winning appearance. He showed the full package. There has been a lot of talk around Christian for the big price tag. He is quite rightly a star in his own country. I know the back story and the pressure of the move. He [only] had a week’s break in the summer, so why am I going to throw him in?”

Pulisic has had to be patient – “I didn’t think it was going to be super easy,” he said – but after a frustrating two months, when the American has been a bit-part player and has not even made the bench at times, this was an explosion of excellence. Pulisic has been overshadowed by Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham but, on his first league start since August, he upstaged them, taking the striker’s record as Chelsea’s youngest hat-trick scorer in the Premier League. A first treble of his senior career came as such a surprise to the scorer that he forgot to claim the match ball. His teammates duly collected and signed it. It was the least they could do.

Rewarded for his catalytic cameo against Ajax, when he set up Michy Batshuayi’s winner, Pulisic made the most of his promotion. His opener was all of his own making. In different ways, he exposed three of the Burnley back four. He caught Matt Lowton dawdling in possession and surged away. He had the skill to dart past James Tarkowski and his angled shot went through Ben Mee’s legs.

Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic completes his perfect hat-trick with his head after opening the scoring with his left foot before rifling in his, and Chelsea’s second, with his right foot.



Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic completes his perfect hat-trick with his head after opening the scoring with his left foot before rifling in his, and Chelsea’s second, with his right foot. Photograph: James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images

Burnley were complicit in their own downfall and if Mee was luckless that Pulisic’s second deflected in off him, Tarkowski had given the ball away to Willian, who sent the American powering into space. “The second goal is a killer,” lamented Sean Dyche. “But you can’t give away the chances we did tonight.”

Pulisic’s third came with a glancing header from Mount’s cross. “Back in my youth days I scored a few headers, but professionally, no,” said a surprised scorer.

Willian drilled in the fourth from Abraham’s pass. “Our midfield combinations and movement were beautiful to watch,” said Lampard. “There were so many great things to admire.”

His detractors could point out that the unloved Maurizio Sarri oversaw a four-goal victory at Turf Moor and that the Italian did so with a clean sheet. Yet this was emphatic and exhilarating, ambitious and auspicious. “It is a fun team to play with now,” Pulisic said.

The luckless Lowton was tormented while the demoted Callum Hudson-Odoi produced the wrong answer. The substitute’s brief appearance was notable for the award of a penalty, which was reversed by VAR, with replays proving that, far from being fouled by Tarkowski, the winger had dived. “Young players are the future of the game,” added Dyche. “If they are diving now, we have massive trouble in five or 10 years’ time.”

His own side had a different set of difficulties, even if some were alleviated by a spirited comeback. Jay Rodriguez’s spectacular goal represented a belated first top-flight strike at Turf Moor for his hometown club while Dwight McNeil, who troubled César Azpilicueta, got the goal his excellence merited. Burnley’s more meaningful opportunities were spurned earlier. Often the talisman and a player Chelsea once coveted, Ashley Barnes endured an off-day.

The £450,000 signing misjudged and miscued a series of chances. “At the top end of the market they are often more clinical,” Dyche added. So Pulisic proved.



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