Chelsea get value for money in Premier League opener

London club beat Burnley 3-1 after coming from behind in away game on Monday, writes Graham Caygill.

Dean Marney (Burnley), left: He may not be the most glamorous name on the list but long-serving midfielder. But he and Scott Arfield have given a combined 13 years' service to the Clarets. Both players' Turf Moor departures were confirmed by Sean Dyche last month. Scotland-born Arfield has held talks with Rangers, while former Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City man Marney has been in discussions with Championship Nottingham Forest. Laurence Griffiths / Getty ImagesShow less

For three minutes Burnley could dream – they led Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and the Turf Moor faithful were buoyant.

The newly promoted side had the title contenders on the ropes thanks to a 14th-minute goal from Scott Arfield.

But reality quickly brought things back to earth with a thud as Chelsea gave a powerful demonstration of just why they are favourites to win the Premier League title.

Three goals in 16 minutes from the multimillion pound London club gave Burnley a sharp wake-up call on just how tough life in England’s top flight can be.

Chelsea’s Achilles heel last season had been fixtures similar to the trip to Burnley. They did the double over title rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool, and took at least three points against everyone else in the top seven.

But it was not the big names that gave them problems. It was sides in the bottom half of the table and their pesky style of sitting back and defending deep that caused the headaches, leading to blanks against sides such as West Ham United, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Norwich City. Thus, Chelsea finished third.

Mourinho had acknowledged before on Monday night that his side had to be more creative and better at breaking down teams if they were going to win the league and what he saw against Burnley would have given him great encouragement, as new signings Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas had immediate impacts.

It had not completely gone to plan, despite the fact the value of Burnley’s starting 11, in terms of transfer fees, was a little over £1.5 million (Dh9.2m), compared to Chelsea’s £185.5m, with a further £110.5m of talent sat on the substitutes bench for good measure.

The home side started positively and their early endeavours were rewarded when Arfield drove home well from the edge of the area after Matthew Taylor had found space on the left flank to find him with his cross.

A lot is expected of Costa, who joined in the summer from Atletico Madrid for £32m, to improve Chelsea’s goal threat and it took him only 17 minutes to find the net to equalise for his new employers.

A rapid return when you think it took the considerably maligned Fernando Torres, who was an unused substitute, 732 minutes to break his duck in 2011.

There was a degree of fortune about the goal as Branislav Ivanovic’s cross was deflected onto the post, but the Spaniard was first to react to fire home.

There was nothing fortunate about Chelsea’s second goal four minutes later as Andre Schurrle ran to an exquisite flick from Fabregas to put the ball past the Burnley keeper Tom Heaton.

It could have been worse for Burnley as Costa was adjudged to have made too much of light contact with Heaton as he went to ground in the penalty area and a yellow card for diving went the way of the striker.

Chelsea’s link-up play outside the box was fluent, with Fabregas particularly impressive, but the London side did not have to work too hard for their third goal.

Ivanovic got the better of his marker at a Fabregas corner and fired home from close range as Burnley’s backline remained static.

With the game effectively won the second half was a more languid affair with Chelsea content with what they had, passing the ball around confidently, while repelling what little a deflated Burnley had to muster. An impressive opening salvo from Mourinho’s men with the message that the weaknesses of last year have been successfully worked on.

This defeat will not define Burnley’s season. A more realistic measuring stick of how they can be expected to compete this season will come on Saturday at Swansea City.

Their defending was made to look very ordinary on Monday night, but they will not have to face a side with the attacking potency and flair of Chelsea every week either.

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