Surprise draw shrinks Chelsea’s lead
LONDON— Chelsea was surprised by relegation-threatened Burnley on Saturday, conceding a late goal after Nemanja Matic was sent off in the 1-1 draw. Chelsea’s lead in the English Premier League was cut to five points.
After Branislav Ivanovic gave Chelsea the halftime lead, Ben Mee headed in from a corner in the 81st minute to earn Burnley a valuable point.
The corner came after Ashley Barnes’ low strike was saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Barnes, though, escaped punishment in the 70th for a dangerouslooking high challenge on Matic, who pushed the Burnley striker and received a straight red card.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was clearly unhappy — as he was in the first half when two penalty claims were dismissed. Michael Knightly handled to block Ivanovic’s shot in the 33rd, and Chelsea striker Diego Costa was shoved over by Jason Shackell in the 43rd. Barnes also avoided any sanction in the 30th for fouling Ivanovic.
“I am not in a mood to laugh,” Mourinho said.
The day got worse for Mourinho when second-place Manchester City beat Newcastle 5-0 to trim Chelsea’s lead to five points. Meanwhile, Manchester United lost for only the second time since November — and could find itself out of the Champions League qualification places by the end of the weekend — as Swansea came from behind to win 2-1.
Chelsea started assertively against Burnley at Stamford Bridge, which was coincidentally celebrating diversity and equality day after Chelsea fans were involved in a racist incident in Paris. But decisions went against Chelsea, and striker Diego Costa managed just one shot on target in his return from a ban.
It was only the second time this season Chelsea has dropped points at home after being held by City in September.