Fabregas shows his class in Blues victory
Burnley 1 Chelsea 3
Cesc Fabregas created three goals and fellow debutant Diego Costa was among the scorers as Chelsea came from behind to earn a stylish win.
Andre Schurrle and Branislav Ivanovic were also on target at Turf Moor, where the impressive Blues lived up to their billing as title favourites.
Keeper Thibaut Courtois – who got the nod in goal ahead of Petr Cech – had no chance with Scott Arfield’s measured strike after an inevitable all-action Burnley opening.
But Chelsea looked sharp and dangerous from the off and were level when good work by Eden Hazard, Fabregas and Ivanovic led to Costa crashing the ball home.
A sumptuous first-time Fabregas pass which teed up an equally exquisite Schurrle finish soon made it 2-1.
And with Chelsea completely dominant in the latter stages of the first half, Ivanovic added a third when he volleyed the ball in from a Fabregas corner.
The second half saw little in the way of decent chances, but Chelsea never looked like surrendering the lead they secured in a blistering first half full of pace, power and guile.
Jose Mourinho’s new-look side showed the perfect combination of quality and physical strength he felt was too often lacking away from home last season.
Schurrle’s deflected shot went agonisingly close early on but Arfield showed great composure to put the hosts ahead with a rasping strike on 14 minutes.
Chelsea refused to be flustered and equalised when a delightful Fabregas back-heel saw Ivanovic cross from the right and, after the cross was deflected on to the post, £32m summer signing Costa netted from 10 yards.
It was 2-1 when a flowing team move ended with Fabregas teeing up Schurrle, who sidefooted the ball in from the right-hand side.
With the Blues completely on top, Costa was then inexplicably booked after being brought down as he rounded goalkeeper Tom Heaton after a poor backpass by Ben Mee.
But it soon was 3-1, when the classy Fabregas, who was given an advanced role with Oscar often dropping deep, found Ivanovic from a corner and the defender volleyed in
Courtois had the chance to show manager Mourinho’s decision to drop Cech was justified after the break and made a fabulous sprawling save to deny Arfield a second goal.
But there was little more in the way of goalmouth incident as Chelsea eased to victory.
Didier Drogba did make a late substitute appearance, much to the delight of the noisy away support, and the returning hero almost scored with a late shot that he dragged just wide.
Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic; Schurrle (Willian 78), Oscar (Mikel 82), Hazard (Drogba 84); Costa.
Subs not used: Cech, Zouma, Luis, Torres.
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