Chelsea allowed Burnley to come back into the game and snatch a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge after dominating the first 70 minutes.
It was supposed to be a comfortable win for the Blues, who wasted no time in scoring the opener. Joao Pedro finished off a brilliant sequence in the fourth minute.
But a Wesley Fofana red card midway through the second half turned the game on its head. It was a wasted opportunity for Chelsea, who were momentarily going back to 4th two points clear of Manchester United, who play Everton on Monday.
The gap to Aston Villa also could have been shortened as they drew to Leeds United at home. Instead, the Blues find themselves six points behind Villa and tied with Man Untied who now only need a draw to reclaim the fourth position.
Burnley, on the other hand, win points for the second league game in a row – both after conceding first. They do need to win desperately, but avoiding defeat at Stamford Bridge is always a bonus.
How did Chelsea vs Burnley unfold?
Manipulation and miscommunication in the opener
Chelsea’s goal was a thing of beauty. But there was more to it than just Moises Caicedo’s line-breaking pass or Pedro Neto’s inch-perfect cross.
Before receiving the ball from Wesley Fofana, Caicedo indicates that the pass should go wide to Reece James. This causes a reaction from Jaidon Anthony, who was glued to the Ecuadorian and quickly rushed to the side to prevent the wide pass.
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It opened up the lane for Caicedo to receive and turn with nobody near him. We could actually see Marcus Edwards visibly bothered that his teammates didn’t step up to press along with the frontline. Trevoh Chalobah’s awkward pass back when covering a long ball attempt from the Clarets was supposed to trigger the visitors’ press, but the midfielders stayed back.
To make matters worse, the defensive line drove forward. So Burnley ended up in between to different and opposite situations: high line and no pressure from the midfielders. It’s the kind of mistake a struggling side like them cannot afford to make.
Chelsea read the situation perfectly and capitalised. Their 2-4-4 in-possession structure had the forwards looking to play on the last shoulder and it’s what enabled Caicedo to find Neto’s deep run. The Portuguese winger squared it to Joao Pedro who made no mistake.
Enzo Fernandez’s participation was also interesting. He started pinning his man forward but dropped deep before Caicedo’s pass. There were times in which he performed the opposite move, starting near the defenders and centre-midfielders and then rushing forward between the lines.
These constant back-and-forth movements kept Burnley’s forwards and midfielders off-guard a number of times. It opened up space for him to receive with more freedom in the attacking half and him dropping deep opened up space elsewhere. It was an interesting tactical wrinkle that Liam Rosenior threw at Scott Parker.
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Rosenior’s strategy shift
Speaking of Rosenior’s strategies, he switched things up a little bit in the second half. Chelsea spent a lot of the first half baiting Burnley’s press by exchanging short passes around the defence, often with Robert Sanchez involved.
But many of them ended in dangerous sequences and possession losses near their own goal. For that reason, Rosenior dialed down on this type of needless exposure, especially being 1-0 up, and moved these passes further forward.
The Blues recorded 89 passes in the final third in the first half. But they were well on track to surpass that in the second half – had Fofana not been sent off.
As a result, Chelsea were dominating Burnley’s half, pushing them backwards while also being safer defensively. The Clarets attempted their first shot after the break in the 77th minute, for perspective.
Rosenior played his cards right but ultimately succumbed to Burnley’s set pieces. But Zian Flemming’s goal wasn’t a one-off.
Lack of discipline beyond the red card
Chelsea have a discipline problem and it has been like that for a while. It’s now six sending offs for the Blues in the league this season, the outright most of any side.
And their lack of discipline was actually a common theme throughout the whole 90 minutes, going beyond the red card.
There were six fouls that Chelsea gave away in their own half, the fourth most of any game this year. Three of them came in their defending third, which ranks third for them in a single match.
Burnley spent 89 minutes behind but at 0-1 down they only needed one moment to get a result. They had a few different opportunities with free-kicks and corners, but only managed to capitalise late on.
It could have actually led to a winner, but Jacob Bruun Larsen headed wide from a very similar James Ward-Prowse corner kick that gave them the equaliser.
Chelsea have had issues defending set pieces and headers and we could already see it on display during Rosenior’s debut, against Championship side Charlton Athletic. Add to that the disciplinary issues and both have cost them two important points at home to strong relegation candidates.