MEE POUNCES AS CHELSEA SEE RED
Referee upsets Mourinho again but 10-man Blues only have themselves to blame for costly late lapse
TWO points dropped at home to relegation-threatened Burnley and midfield keystone Nemanja Matic banned for three games and, surprise, surprise, it is all down to the decisions which went against Chelsea.
‘Minute 30, minute 33, minute 43 and minute 69,’ was pretty much all Jose Mourinho wanted to say after the game, pointing everyone towards incidents which might have twice produced a red card for Ashley Barnes and twice earned the home team a penalty.
He had a point. Barnes was certainly fortunate to get away with the tackle on Matic, which sparked a retaliatory shove. That earned the Serb a red card which will rule him out of Sunday’s Capital One Cup final against Spurs and Barclays Premier League games against West Ham and Southampton.
Barnes also got away with a firsthalf challenge on the airborne Branislav Ivanovic, which might have been punished but wasn’t with anything more than a free-kick to Chelsea.
The penalty claims might have gone Mourinho’s way on another day but still his team must shoulder the blame. They cannot hide behind the campaign imagined by their manager.
Chelsea were rattled by the loss of Matic, 20 minutes from time, and appeared to be still seething at the injustice of it all when Barnes was allowed to turn, in Matic territory on the edge of the penalty area, and unleash a low drive which was turned wide by keeper Thibaut Courtois.
From the corner, taken as Gary Cahill was readied to come on as a substitute, Ben Mee climbed above Ramires to head Kieran Trippier’s cross into the net and equalise. If the referee lost his focus and made mistakes, then so did Mourinho’s players. Cahill returned to the bench and Didier Drogba came on instead.
The flash of temper from Matic was most out of character and understandable when you see replays of the high challenge by Barnes, well above the ankle, but he must know you cannot react by sprinting 10 yards and throwing him to the floor.
Ivanovic, still aggrieved from his skirmish with Barnes, could not help getting involved and was booked for trying to stop Martin Atkinson brandishing his red card.
John Terry seemed to be the coolest head. If there were others, Chelsea might have defended their 1-0 lead and would not be lamenting Burnley’s fighting spirit and two lost points. And to think it had all started so well for Chelsea.
Five days after his vital ‘away goal’ in Paris, Ivanovic struck with a goal made by Eden Hazard, and featuring Juan Cuadrado, the Colombian making only his second start but who seems to have struck an instant chemistry with those around him. Cuadrado forced an early save from Tom Heaton with a header and his pass l aunched Hazard into the penalty box, where the Belgian jinked to his right, skipped past three defenders, had the vision to spot Ivanovic and cut a cross into his feet. Perhaps Mourinho’s complaints about the tackles Hazard has been enduring had an effect on Burnley’s defenders as they failed to get close to him.
Ivanovic tucked the chance away at the near post, his third goal of the month, his sixth of the season and his 31st for the club. Not bad for a defender, although there have been times this season when the thundering right back has been more of an attacker.
He was on the rampage once again before half-time to unleash a fierce drive which crashed into Michael Kightly’s arm as the Burnley winger turned his back on the ball. This was the first of Mourinho’s phantom penalties.
On another day it would have been given. Kightly’s arm was extended away from his body and the ball had travelled some distance towards him, albeit at incredible speed. Ivanovic was un impressed, especially as this was only three minutes after he had been booted from behind by Barnes.
The other phantom penalty came two minutes before half-time when Jason Shackell seemed to give Diego Costa a nudge from behind as the striker wriggled free. Costa exaggerated his tumble and was appalled when play was waved on.
Costa and Atkinson have history from the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final at Liverpool.
Heaton saved from Oscar soon after conceding, but the visitors readjusted and there were flashes of encouragement for Sean Dyche before half-time, underlining how far his team have come since they were swept away by Chelsea at Turf Moor back on opening day.
Barnes caught a volley sweetly from the edge of the penalty box but it was too near the goalkeeper, Shackell headed over when free at a corner. Courtois beat away a deflected effort from Barnes after the break, but Chelsea slowly regained control, creating a cluster of second-half chances, with Hazard influential.
Matic almost smuggled in a second from a messy corner and Costa, released by Hazard, had a left-foot shot saved. Chelsea’s top scorer then beat the ground with his fist as he came within inches of reaching crosses from either full back.
Then the red card rocked the home team. Without Matic, they are not the same team, losing the midfield balance, which will concern Mourinho as he looks at the next three games. Any appeal is also doomed to fail as provocation is not a defence. Barnes, however, could face an FA charge for his high tackle that so incensed the Chelsea midfielder.
Mee levelled from the corner to earn the point Dyche thought his battling team deserved, and they might have had more. As Chelsea pressed forward in search of a late winner, Danny Ings broke clear in the fourth minute of stoppage time and almost won it for Burnley.