Southampton: Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said his team were finally finding the right balance between attack and defence after shutting out Burnley in Saturday’s 3-0 English Premier League soccer victory.
Chelsea have now kept clean sheets in their last four games in all competitions. Lampard said experienced defender Thiago Silva and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy – both of whom joined the club in the close season – had added steel to their defence.
“There was certainly balance there and we worked on that, Lampard told reporters on Saturday. “That’s part of the process when we’ve brought in new players. When you’re keeping clean sheets and scoring goals, you’re going in the right direction.
The clean sheets are a great sign of a spine in the team. Thiago Silva and Edouard Mendy have massively helped that but so has the mentality of the group. Goals from new arrivals Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, as well as a Kurt Zouma strike helped Chelsea cruise against struggling Burnley, but Lampard said he was not getting carried away after ending a run of two straight league draws. ‘I’m not going to jump up and down after a win like this, but it was a really positive day,’ he added.
American forward Christian Pulisic suffered a hamstring issue during the warm-up at Turf Moor, ruling him out.
He had a small sensation in his hamstring, so we had to pull him out. He couldn’t play after feeling that… so we’ll have to scan it. He’s got fit and played three games so obviously he’s frustrated, Lampard added.
Victory lifted Chelsea to fourth in the table with 12 points from seven games.