Chelsea were booed as they fell further into the lead at Stamford Bridge, but Wesley Fofana’s red card and Jean Fleming’s powerful header earned them a precious 1-1 draw against Burnley.
Liam Rosenior’s Blues were in complete control, pushing a second to add to Joao Pedro’s early lead. But then the red card issue occurred again.
His side were reduced to 10 points when Fofana planted a stud in the leg of James Ward-Prowse to give him a second yellow, his eighth of the season. Torsin was lucky that Fleming didn’t chase him back into the dressing room when he hit the centre-back on the wrong side.
But Fleming would have his big moment in the 93rd minute when he took advantage of a non-existent marking to head home a corner kick.
Burnley may have suffered a disastrous defeat to Mansfield in the FA Cup last weekend, but this draw shows that the two bottom teams are still fighting on the back of their come-from-behind win against Crystal Palace in their last league game. The difference between them and survival was 8 points.
However, Chelsea experienced their own downfall. Burnley complete the set of promoted teams and fight back for the prize at Stamford Bridge after Sunderland and Leeds came from behind to win here earlier in the season. A key point from which Chelsea can calculate the cost towards the end of the season.
They have moved up to fourth place but next away games against Arsenal and Aston Villa will end their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. Their fans are not impressed.
Chelsea miss another chance and suffer another red point.
Chelsea started well, with Pedro Neto brought in behind Kyle Walker, with the in-form João Pedro scoring his seventh goal in his last nine games.
João Pedro takes a shot under pressure from Bashir Humphries
Burnley found their footing when Walker and Joe Worrall combined to block to deny Cole Palmer’s early extra point, but were relieved to see Palmer deny a one-on-one chance after a terrible error from Walker. Walker, who had been struggling, got carried away at halftime.
As Chelsea looked to reassert their authority after the break, Burnley continued to play physically, with Worrall making a great tackle on Palmer and Bashir Humphries sliding in to deny Joao Pedro another goal.
Fofana’s red completely changed the mentality of both teams. Rosenior sent Torsin to replace Palmer, who had gone down the tunnel for treatment, but it could easily have been seen that the submariner would also be sent off.
Chelsea’s nerves were high and failing to pick up Fleming from a late corner was a fundamental mistake. Moments later, Jacob Bruun-Larsen almost scored the winning goal from another corner.
They are certainly ahead of Man United in the table, but the discipline of this young Chelsea team will be the focus of much attention ahead of United’s game against Everton on Monday Night Football. They currently have some big games in hand to qualify for the Champions League.
