Chelsea were left frustrated on Saturday after Burnley pegged them back twice in short succession, forcing Mauricio Pochettino’s men to settle for a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Josh Cullen restored parity with a wonderful volleyed effort following Cole Palmer’s first-half panenka penalty. The Chelsea man thought he’d won it for the home side with just over ten minutes remaining, but Djordje Petrović mishandled a Dara O’Shea header in the dying minutes to enforce a share of the spoils.
As it happened
Despite early pressure from Burnley, Arijanet Muric was forced into action after a deflected effort from Enzo Fernández nearly looped in.
Burnley’s momentum wasn’t halted though, as after a quickly taken free-kick, Wilson Odobert was able to bend one towards the far corner – forcing an acrobatic stop from Djordje Petrović.
In the 20th minute, Chelsea thought they had broken the deadlock through Axel Disasi slammed home from a Mykhailo Mudryk cross. However, the Frenchman made connection with the ball via what appeared to be his elbow, and with a tight call to make, the VAR room ruled it out.
Chelsea were given a penalty five minutes before the break after Lorenz Assignon was found to have downed Mudryk inside the box – with the French defender receiving his second yellow card for the challenge. Burnley boss Vincent Kompany also received a red for his furious reaction to the decision – but the commotion did not faze Cole Palmer, who dinked the ball down the middle.
Embed from Getty ImagesBurnley came out firing after the break, restoring parity just minutes into the second half despite being reduced to ten men. After a one-two with Josh Brownhill, Josh Cullen thundered a volley from outside the box into the bottom corner to level the tie.
But after a frustrating half-hour, Chelsea netted their second of the afternoon through Palmer – a name that has become synonymous with the Stamford Bridge scoresheet in recent months. Raheem Sterling beautifully backheeled it through to Palmer, who fired into the corner to spark celebrations amongst the home fans.
Burnley wouldn’t surrender though, and with ten minutes remaining in SW6, Dara O’Shea equalised from a corner. Petrovic won’t be too keen to relive the moment, getting two hands to the header but ultimately palming it into his own goal rather than making the save.
Embed from Getty ImagesSterling would go on to force the best chance of the game when Palmer picked up the ball from outside the box and played it over the top, finding the run of his England compatriot. All that was left for Sterling to do was to head it home, but the ex-Manchester City star inexplicably struck the advertising hoardings instead.
Noni Madueke blasted a shot over the bar in the dying minutes, sparking an early exodus of Chelsea fans frustrated by yet more dropped points. Conversely, a vital point for Burnley moves them to within four points of safety.
The lineups
CHE: Petrović; Cucurella, Badiashile, Disasi, Gusto; Fernández, Caicedo; Mudryk, Gallagher, Palmer; Jackson
BUR: Muric; Vitinho, Esteve, O’Shea, Assignon; Odobert, Berge, Cullen, Bruun Larsen; Foster, Amdouni
