DARA STUNS POCH
O’shea nods home to earn 10-man Clarets huge point
THIS may prove to be a huge point in Burnley’s battle for survival, it was certainly another interesting data set for Mauricio Pochettino.
The Chelsea boss reckons the numbers show his side should be fourth in the Premier League.
Their inability to put away the 10 men of 19th-placed Burnley in the second-half, having been handed a first-half lead through a controversial penalty, showed why they are not.
All credit must go to Vincent Kompany’s battling Clarets.
Twice they came back from Cole Palmer strikes to level through Josh Cullen and Dara O’shea.
Many expected them to roll over when Lorenz Assignon was sent-off for a second yellow on 40 minutes.
He was adjudged to have fouled Mykhailo Mudryk in the box.
Mudryk never seemed to be in full control of the ball as he looked to cut across Assignon, whose arm on the Chelsea flyer’s shoulder was deemed illegal by both referee Darren England and VAR.
Kompany was furious. His reaction earned him a straight red from England. To make matters worse,
Palmer (right) pulled out a Panenka finish from the penalty spot to open the scoring.
Burnley keeper Arijanet Muric produced the first of a host of outstanding saves to turn Enzo Fernandez’s shot on to the bar.
At the other end Wilson Odobert was denied by Djordje Petrovic.
Luck seemed to be with Burnley when Axel Disasi put the ball in the net on 20 minutes only for VAR to claim he had used his arm. That luck may have deserted them by the break, but they showed plenty of heart.
Within two minutes of the restart Cullen played a one-two with sub Josh Brownhill before volleying in from the edge of the box.
Muric produced big saves and Maxime Esteve big blocks to deny Chelsea’s Steve Jackson, Fernandez and Mudryk.
It looked as if their efforts would be for nothing when Raheem Sterling came off the bench and played in Palmer with a cute backheel.
He produced a 78th-minute finish into the corner that was as ice-cold as his goal celebration. But Burnley were not about to be frozen out.
They struck back when O’shea rose unmarked to meet Cullen’s corner and power his header home.
Incredibly, the Clarets could have pinched the points at the death when sub Jay Rodriguez headed another Cullen corner against the bar.
Still, Kompany will be delighted to head home with a point and a third game unbeaten, while Pochettino can console himself with
Chelsea winning the shot count 32-18.
CHELSEA: Petrovic 7; Gusto 6 (Gilchrist
(87) 6), Disasi 6, Badiashile 6, Cucurella
6; Caicedo 7, Fernandez 6; Palmer 9,
Gallagher 6 (Madueke (62) 6);
Mudryk 7; Jackson 7 (Sterling
(73) 6)
BURNLEY: Muric 7; Assignon
5, O’shea 7, Esteve 7, Vitinho
7; Larsen 6 (Brownhill
(46) 7), Cullen 8, Berge 7,
Odobert 6 (Gudmundsson
(69) 6); Foster 7
(Rodriguez (69) 6),
Amdouni 5 (Taylor
(45) 6)