Champions Chelsea fall to Burnley

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Chelsea's Ivorian midfielder Jeremie Boga (centre left) vies with Burnley's English defender James Tarkowski during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Burnley at Stamford Bridge in London on August 12, 2017. Ian KINGTON / AFP

Sam Vokes scored twice as Burnley torpedoed defending champions Chelsea 3-2 at Stamford Bridge yesterday in one of the most sensational opening-weekend results in English top flight history.

Chelsea had captain Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas sent off and Burnley took full advantage through Vokes’s brace and a superb Stephen Ward effort, with goals from Alvaro Morata and David Luiz coming in vain.

Leicester City lost 2-1 at Hull City on the first day last season, but given the unexpected nature of their title win, this was the biggest opening-day shock since Aston Villa’s 3-1 win over Manchester United in 1995.

Huddersfield Town marked their top flight return with a remarkable 3-0 win at Crystal Palace that sent them top of the table, while Wayne Rooney bagged the winner on his Everton comeback in a 1-0 victory over Stoke City.

Burnley’s win, their first at Chelsea since 1971, further blackened the mood around Stamford Bridge after a close season during which manager Antonio Conte has grown frustrated by his side’s lack of transfer activity.

Conte was without the injured Eden Hazard and out-of-favour striker Diego Costa and started with £58 million ($75.5 million, 63.8 million euros) signing Morata on the bench.

Youth-team graduate Jeremie Boga made his debut, but was hauled off in the reshuffle that followed Cahill’s 14th-minute dismissal for a reckless, studs-up foul on Steven Defour.

Vokes put Burnley ahead in the 24th minute, volleying in from Matthew Lowton’s cross.

Ward doubled the visitors’ advantage in the 39th minute with a blistering left-foot strike from Jack Cork’s lofted pass and Vokes added a third before halftime, heading in Defour’s cross.

Halftime substitute Morata and Luiz reduced the arrears in the second half, either side of Fabregas’s 81st-minute dismissal for a second yellow card, but Burnley hung on for a famous victory.