Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling was in stellar form on Saturday afternoon as the Blues secured a comfortable Premier League win over Burnley at Turf Moor.
The London giants went into the match after a solid 2-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage. They conceded an early goal in the 15th minute but managed to level the scores before the half-time break. Sterling’s accurate cross into the box induced an own goal scored by Ameen Al-Dakhil.
Within minutes of the restart, Sterling won a penalty to help Chelsea pull ahead. Cole Palmer converted the spotkick. Sterling chipped in with a goal in the 65th minute before Nicolas Jackson completed the scoring. Palmer created the assist after another lovely cross from Sterling.
The Englishman was involved in all 4 goals scored and speaking after the game, manager Mauricio Pochettino was quick to acknowledge his performance saying: “All the players try to play well and today he was well, he was involved in the goals and I am so happy for him and so happy for the team.”
Sterling joined Chelsea from Premier League champions Manchester City for £50 million last year and he had an underwhelming debut season with only 6 goals and 3 assists from 28 league games. He has started this season in much better form with 3 goals and 1 assist in 8 matches. He has been playing with more freedom.
There is also a higher degree of confidence within him and he has looked more like the player from his Man City days. If he can find the consistency over a period of games, Chelsea could quickly catch up in the top 4 race despite starting the season poorly. The club are presently 11th in the table with 11 points on the board.
Chelsea head into the international break on the back of wins over Fulham and Burnley. They face a testing challenge on their hands on their return. The club are due to face London trio Arsenal, Brentford, Tottenham Hotspur as well as Manchester City in the 4 league games following the two-week gap.
