Another late slip from Chelsea. They were coasting courtesy of an early João Pedro goal but the second-half dismissal of Wesley Fofana offered a glimmer to a Burnley team previously clinging on. In a mirror of Leeds’ comeback from 2-0 down here, Liam Rosenior’s team failed to run down the clock.
Instead, they allowed the unmarked Zian Flemming to nod home a James Ward-Prowse corner in added time. It might have been worse when Jacob Bruun Larsen headed a near-identical Ward-Prowse corner over the bar. Defending set pieces is a discipline the Rosenior regime has struggled with. “Our record defending set plays is not of the level required,” admitted Chelsea’s manager.
Rosenior’s usual mild manner deserted him. “To not win the last two games, that’s the biggest frustration; we have set fire to four points from two games. I’ve learned I have a good team but to maximise the potential we need players to see things through.”
Did rustiness share some of the blame? Chelsea’s players had been given four days off by Rosenior, Cole Palmer heading a winter sun delegation to Dubai. With Estêvão absent with a hamstring problem, Roméo Lavia was on the bench, in the wake of news he has spent his convalescence fine-tuning his decision-making with the aid of virtual reality.
Talking of reality, Burnley still stare down the barrel of relegation but this battling point will help morale. There were only two survivors from the starting lineup that lost so embarrassingly to Mansfield in the FA Cup last weekend, Scott Parker instead selecting the same team that staged a comeback win at Crystal Palace.
“We’ve had a big challenge this year,” said Parker. “At times we’ve fallen a little bit short. The one thing we have not fallen short on is the resilience of this group. We keep fighting, we keep coming.”
As at Selhurst, Burnley had to get a result the hard way, falling a goal down within four minutes far too easily. Moisés Caicedo’s pass from deep found Pedro Neto, the winger’s cross was met by a sliding João Pedro.
On the touchline, Rosenior remained dissatisfied, prowling and clapping in the style of a thoroughly modern manager. His Chelsea team play with greater freedom than the often mechanical, by-rote style under Enzo Maresca but the cost of greater liberty is a lack of control. Rosenior said: “We lacked incision, what I want is to create wave after wave, we were too safe in our possession.”
From midway through the first half Burnley made threatening inroads as the home support’s attention drifted towards a familiar angst. Burnley’s lack of quality in attack meant no proper blows were landed, with Marcus Edwards’ free-kick from a promising position a disappointment.
An ailing Kyle Walker was removed at half-time, Parker’s defensive reshuffle paying dividends when Bashir Humphreys, the Cobham graduate shifted to central defence, executed a last-man challenge on Palmer.
On 57 minutes, Ward-Prowse was introduced to seek dead-ball opportunities. His previous direct free-kick goal came against Chelsea, for Southampton three years ago this week Still, the West Ham loanee’s corner delivery remains exemplary.
• Chelsea have dropped 17 points from winning positions at home this season; only in 1995-96 (20) have they ever dropped more at Stamford Bridge in a single campaign in the competition.
• Wesley Fofana’s first sending-off in English football (pictured) was Chelsea’s sixth red card of the season in the Premier League, their joint-most in a single campaign (also 6 in 2007-08).
• Chelsea have had eight players sent off in all competitions this season (excluding the Club World Cup), the most by a Premier League side since West Ham's nine in 2015-16. Opta
The Parker plan had long been apparent; hold a Maginot line until the latter stages and then advance in search of goals. “The longer you stay in the game, the more the confidence grows,” said Flemming.
Fofana’s second yellow card came after a crunching challenge on Ward-Prowse. That followed a first-half booking for chopping down Hannibal Mejbri. A limping Palmer was withdrawn for Tosin Adarabioyo as Rosenior sent on height to deal with the barrage.
On came Ashley Barnes, memorable for a Stamford Bridge tussle with Nemanja Matic fully 11 years ago that led to the Chelsea midfielder’s red card. Back then, Burnley found an equaliser, and they did so again, Chelsea helpless finding themselves against Ward-Prowse’s delivery, leaving Flemming to saunter towards the ball.
Rosenior did not hide his disquiet. “A marking assignment wasn’t done,” he said. “I’m not here to throw players under the bus. I will always protect my players. I will deal with it in the week. There was a player we assigned that duty, who marked the wrong player.”
