Pope is supreme to help side Nick a point off Tuchel
THOMAS TUCHEL accused Burnley of “stealing a point by pure luck” after Matej Vydra’s late strike denied Chelsea one of the most comprehensive 1-0 wins you’ll see.
Tuchel’s frustrations were understandable – his side were dominant and should have run away with the game.
But it wasn’t Burnley’s fault they were wasteful and Nick Pope made three outstanding saves after being overlooked by England boss Gareth Southgate.
Pope sent a timely message that on his day he’s as strong as any of his rivals for the country’s No.1 spot.
Tuchel said: “It was a fantastic 90 minutes when you look at the performance. It can only happen in football.
“That’s why everyone loves the game – a team can steal a point if the other team forgets to score the goals they deserve.
“We played a fantastic match. If we played this game 100 times, we’d win 99 times. It’s our fault. We created so many chances.
“We let them believe it was possible to steal a point by pure luck and that’s what happened.”
Burnley boss Sean Dyche replied: “I can understand him being frustrated. If the shoe was on the other foot I might be thinking that but I also might be thinking, ‘Okay, they did what Burnley have to do’.”
Things were far more polite between the managers after the game than during it, with Dyche claiming to be bemused by questions about tensions in the technical areas.
He must have forgotten the shouting exchange after Ross Barkley and Ben Mee clashed.
Dyche’s assistant Steve Stone concluded another round of handbags when he demanded the Chelsea bench show the visitors some respect.
Tuchel must have known what he was doing when he celebrated Kai Havertz’s goal wildly in front of the Burnley bench. Dyche, Ian Woan and Stone were much more cool in their own celebrations, the gaffer simply sipping water.
On the field, Chelsea had four fine opportunities to go ahead within eight minutes but Pope saved well from Callum Hudsonodoi, who then skewed the rebound, and from Jorginho.
Charlie Taylor got enough on Reece James’ shot to deflect it over, Andreas Christensen headed just wide and Maxwell Cornet stopped Barkley’s cross reaching Havertz (left) at the far post.
Chelsea were deservedly ahead by the break, Havertz heading home James’ brilliant cross after N’golo Kante set him free.
They were unlucky not to make it two after half-time, when Thiago Silva headed against a post.
Havertz scooped a glorious chance over before Pope denied Hudson-odoi once again.
And they were made to pay when
Jay Rodriguez nodded down for fellow sub Vydra
to equalise.