Ten-man Burnley twice came from behind to grab a point that inevitably increased the pressure on Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Vincent Kompany watched his side’s stirring second half performance from the stands after being shown a red card himself shortly before the break. That was for an angry reaction to Lorenz Assignon being sent off and giving away a penalty that Cole Palmer converted after a lengthy deliberation by VAR John Brooks and his assistant Akil Howson.
But Josh Cullen made it 1-1 early in the second half and after Palmer thought he had won it with his second of the afternoon, centre-back Dara O’Shea headed Burnley level again nine minutes from time.
Substitute Jay Rodriguez saw a header hit the bar after that and the final whistle saw Chelsea booed off. The dissent was in no way prolonged but failing to beat a team headed for relegation despite a man advantage is nonetheless an unmooring of Pochettino’s already precarious job security.
VAR’s first involvement came in the 20th minute when Axel Disasi bundled in Mykhailo Mudryk’s ball to the back post. It took an age for the officials to decide that an arm had been used, although the Chelsea man might actually have been impeded by a challenger as he did so. Should a penalty have been awarded?
Kompany’s touchline meltdown was triggered by referee Darren England not only awarding the softest of penalties but also sending Assignon off. Not via a straight red card – Mudryk can hardly been identified as a goal-scoring opportunity – but a second yellow as he had been cautioned in the 16th minute for foul on the winger.
Four minutes and 19 seconds passed before VAR upheld the decision and Palmer converted the penalty Panenka style. England had sent Kompany to the stands in the meantime, a straight red for an excess of the foul and abusive.
The 10 men duly equalised three minutes into the second period through Cullen’s fine strike. The midfielder exchanged passes with half-time replacement Josh Brownhill before lashing past goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic from 20 yards.
Petrovic prevented Lyle Foster from giving Burnley the lead before Raheem Sterling, booed in the last home match, was sent on for the final 17 minutes.
It was Sterling’s clever flick that allowed Palmer to fire Chelsea back ahead in the 78th minute – but Burnley would not be denied.
O’Shea’s header from a corner in the 81st minute was too hot for Petrovic to handle and the 10 men had their point after all.
And it could have been three but for Rodriguez’s header from another corner hitting the bar rather than the back of the net.
