Chelsea captain John Terry set a clear target of winning the Premier League following his side’s 3-1 come-from-behind win over Burnley last night.
Burnley fans started dreaming of a shock win when Scott Arfield fired past Thibaut Courtois in the 14th minute, but Chelsea quickly put a dampener on the Premier League newcomers’ party.
Diego Costa marked his debut with a poacher’s strike to equalise and Andre Schurrle then finished off a sublime 25-pass move to put Jose Mourinho’s men ahead.
Branislav Ivanovic made it 3-1 and Chelsea strolled on to victory.
“We’ve made some very big signings,” Terry said. “Diego has come in and he was great tonight. He got on the scoresheet which is a great start for him. We’re hoping to win the league. That’s our target this year.
"This league is going to be really tough and we’ve seen some quality at the weekend from many teams, but importantly we picked up three points tonight and we’ll move on to the next.”
Terry also hailed summer signing Cesc Fabregas, who joined the Blues from Barcelona and also made his Premier League debut for the club at Turf Moor.
The former Arsenal midfielder was a key man in Chelsea’s midfield, and Terry added: “Some of the movement and play for the goals was different class and Cesc was probably pick of the bunch for Schurrle. It was a tough game tonight but we saw it out in the second half.”
The decibel levels at a raucous Turf Moor rocketed in the 13th minute when Arfield gave the hosts a surprise lead. Chelsea’s back four were slow clearing the box from a corner and Matt Taylor, played onside by Terry, found Arfield just inside the box.
And the unmarked midfielder blasted a sweet volley past Courtois, who froze as the ball flew past his right ear.
But three minutes later Chelsea were level.
Ivanovic latched on to a Fabregas backheel and flashed a low cross from the right that took a touch off defender Jason Shackell and hit the far post. Luckily for Chelsea, Costa was there to sweep the ball in through Michael Duff’s legs.
The Blues then took the lead with a sublime goal that came after a stunning passing move.
Eden Hazard surged deep inside the Burnley half, beating three defenders before laying the ball off to Ivanovic. The Serbian then found Fabregas, whose perfectly weighted pass was converted first time by Schurrle.
Costa continued to be in the thick of the action and his reputation for kidology from his days in Spain perhaps went ahead of him as the game neared the half hour point.
The Spain forward was sharp enough to pick up on Ben Mee’s careless back pass but he hit the deck after the keeper raced off his line to challenge him.
Replays showed contact with Costa’s trailing leg, but referee Michael Oliver booked the striker for diving.
Mourinho, clearly unhappy with the decision, aired his grievances with fourth official Mike Dean.
The Chelsea manager was a happy soul in the 33rd minute though as Chelsea found the net again.
Fabregas floated a peach of a corner straight to the right foot of Ivanovic, who prodded the ball home after surging through the box ahead of his marker.
After the break, Burnley threw everything they had at the visitors, to no avail – and with Fabregas, Hazard and Oscar in midfield, Chelsea had no problem playing keep-ball to negate their threat.
