Marcos Alonso justifies Chelsea recall with goal as new Blues boss Thomas Tuchel earns first win vs Burnley

Thomas Tuchel earned his first win as Chelsea boss with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Burnley on Sunday.

Cesar Azpilicueta opened the scoring in the 40th minute, before Marcos Alonso, who was making his first Blues appearance since September, made sure of the points late on.

Chelsea were held to a goalless draw with Wolves in their first match under Tuchel, who replaced Frank Lampard in the Stamford Bridge dugout on Tuesday.

However, Tuchel’s men were worthy winners against a Burnley side who failed to register an attempt on goal until the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

The German coach kept faith with his 3-4-3 system as Alonso was preferred over Ben Chilwell at left-wing-back, while Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner were given starts.

The Blues found it hard to break down a sturdy Burnley defence with Mount and Werner having half-chances.

Callum Hudson-Odoi kept his place in the starting line-up at right-wing-back and impressed once more by assisting Azpilicueta for the opener.

The England winger drove at the Burnley backline, before playing in Azpilicueta, who blasted past Nick Pope.

Hudson-Odoi continued to cause trouble for Burnley in the second-half as his deflected shot struck a post two minutes before the hour mark.

He was involved again when his cross deflected off Ben Mee, which brought an excellent save from Pope.

Pulisic should have then doubled Chelsea’s lead, but he dragged his shot wide following good work from Hudson-Odoi.

Reece James almost got on the scoresheet after replacing Hudson-Odoi in the 73rd minute when his effort was saved by Pope’s legs.

Chelsea’s constant pressure paid off as Alonso superbly controlled Pulisic’s chipped pass to volley the ball into the back of the net with six minutes remaining.