Chelsea beat Burnley 2-0; climb to 2nd place in EPL

Goals from Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez earned Chelsea a 2-0 victory at lowly Burnley on Saturday, a win that moved the Blues within three points of Premier League leader Arsenal.
Despite the visitor struggling to find its rhythm early on, Neto arrived at the back post to put Chelsea into a 37th-minute lead, an advantage it never looked like relinquishing.
The host rallied in the second half but did not create one opening of note, with Fernandez slamming home the second goal late on to seal what will be one of Enzo Maresca’s side’s most comfortable successes of the campaign.
A third straight league win moved Chelsea up to second on 23 points behind London rival Arsenal, who hosts Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Manchester City, which has 22 points, can regain second spot when it visits Newcastle United later on Saturday.
With high-profile clashes against European giants Barcelona and Arsenal up next, Chelsea gave key midfielder Moises Caicedo a rest. However, the visitor looked disjointed in the Ecuadorean’s absence in the first half.
Burnley has been a happy hunting ground for Chelsea, who travelled to Lancashire in search of its seventh successive league win at Turf Moor.
It was nevertheless the host who had the better of the opening exchanges but it could not make its pressure pay.
With their first meaningful attack, Chelsea edged into the lead. Jamie Gittens’ cross was inch-perfect, as was the header from Neto, the Portuguese scoring his fourth league goal of the season.
A fine, flowing move saw Neto almost score again when he hit the post just after the hour mark as Chelsea pushed for a killer second goal. Down the other end, however, it remained totally untroubled.
Argentine Fernandez could not miss the game-clinching second when it came two minutes from time after impressive tenacity from substitute Marc Guiu to set the chance up.
Following a mixed start to the campaign, Chelsea is starting to click into gear. It has now won five of its last six Premier League games, winning three successive league matches to nil for the first time since March 2022.
Burnley’s third straight defeat — all to London sides — leaves it struggling on 10 points from 12 matches.