Wasteful Chelsea draw with 10-man Burnley after fight-back
Despite making a strong start to the contest, the visitors were thankful to goalkeeper Arijanet Muric for preserving their clean sheet inside the opening exchanges, as he tipped Enzo Fernández’s effort onto the angle of post and bar.
The Clarets were soon back in the ascendancy, and came equally as close to taking the lead when Wilson Odobert’s ferocious effort forced a stunning save out of Đorđe Petrović.
It was Chelsea’s turn to trade the next blow and it looked to be a killer one when Axel Disasi turned home Mykhailo Mudryk’s delivery at the far post, but a lengthy VAR check ruled that he turned the ball into the net with his arm.
VAR was soon working in Chelsea’s favour though, as after Lorenz Assignon eased Mudryk off the ball in the area, referee Darren England pointed to the spot to the dismay of nearly everyone inside the ground.
Assignon saw a second yellow for his part in the penalty, Vincent Kompany was also dismissed for his protestations, and salt was soon rubbed into the wounds when Cole Palmer’s panenka landed in the net.
Justice was swiftly served after the break from a Burnley point of view, as the 10-man Clarets flew out of the traps, and when HT substitute Josh Brownhill linked with his midfield partner Josh Cullen, the latter thumped home on the volley from the edge of the area - his first-ever Premier League goal.
The visitors had something to cling to from there, but unwilling to sit on a point they probed to nose ahead, and came tantalisingly close to doing so when Lyle Foster’s header forced a stunning save from Petrović.
That seemed to be the chastening experience Chelsea needed, as from then on, Burnley barely crossed the halfway line, but beating Muric was proving to be a problem, as several Blues players found out when he produced a string of fine saves.
The big Kosovan was eventually beaten when a deft Raheem Sterling flick freed Palmer, who arrowed a left-footed strike into the bottom corner, which many expected would be decisive.
But Burnley were having none of it, and hit back almost instantly when Cullen’s corner was glanced home by Dara O’Shea to prove Kompany’s men weren’t here to roll over.
Incredibly, Kompany’s men should’ve won it when Jay Rodriguez crashed an effort off the crossbar and volleyed the rebound over, but in the end they had to settle for a point that still undoubtedly suited them down to the ground given the circumstances.
Even with five minutes added time in tow, Chelsea couldn’t find a winner, with a failure to win heaping more pressure on Mauricio Pochettino.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Arijanet Muric (Burnley)