The American was a surprised inclusion in the starting lineup but he repaid his manager’s trust by grabbing a first Chelsea career hatrick – added to a fine William strike – to lead the Blues to a thrilling 4-2 victory over Burnley at the Turf Moor on Saturday.
Christian Pulisic netted a first half double and added a third early in the second half to become the first player from the USA to score for Chelsea in the Premier League.
A record breaking day also saw Pulisic become the first Chelsea player to score a ‘perfect’ Premier League hat-trick since Didier Drogba against Wigan in May 2010, and only the second American to score a Premier League hat-trick since Clint Dempsey for Fulham against Newcastle in January 2012.
The USA international had not make Frank Lampard’s first eleven since August but after a brilliant appearance in the Champions League in midweek, the American was given another chance to impress and he grabbed it with both hands with a hat trick.
His first goal arrived with just 20 minutes played. Space opened up behind the Burnley defence as Lowton couldn’t control a header back to him. Pulisic picked up the loose ball and drove at Tarkowski. He briefly looked like he had held onto it for too long but a quick shimmy shifted the ball onto his left foot and he hit it across Pope into the bottom-right corner.
1 – Christian Pulisic is the first player from the USA to score for @ChelseaFC in the Premier League. The Blues have now had players from 36 different nations score for them in the competition (excluding own goals). Global. #BURCHE pic.twitter.com/6DYUlDLjmX
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 26, 2019
And it was two up for the the former Borussia Dortmund man and visitors just before the break and it bore similarity to the opener.
A loose ball dropped to Pulisic in midfield after Willian made a good interception and he drove straight at the penalty area. The American went right instead of left this time, as his right-footed shot took a nasty deflection off Mee and inside the near post, leaving the Burnley goalie, Pope, with no chance.
Ten minutes after the break, Pulisic claimed his hat trick and Chelsea’s third goal of the evening.
The Blues won a corner off Lowton on the right, and while the defender was on hand to make the near-post clearance from the corner, he didn’t get it right. He could only divert the ball straight back to Mount who delivered again, and Pulisic powered in a header from the line of the six-yard box.
https://www.twitter.com/Cfccomps/status/1188149489770618881
Burnley had crumbled and less than 120 seconds later, the home side conceded a fourth. Chelsea won the ball in the left-back position and found Tammy Abraham, who carried the ball through the centre. He laid it off to Willian at the edge of the area and the Brazilian opened up a bit of space with a stepover before shooting across Pope into the bottom-left corner.
https://www.twitter.com/Cfccomps/status/1188150125660647424
Two moments of loss of concentration however robbed the Blues of a clean sheet as Jay Rodriguez and Dwight McNeil scored a quick-fire double to give the home fans something to cheer about in the closing stages.
The win secured Chelsea’s spot on fourth in the league table, level on points with Leicester City – who thrashed Southampton 9-0 on Friday night – but with an inferior goal difference.