Chelsea Vs Burnley — chelsea vs burnley: Red cards and set-piece failures see Chelsea 'set fire to four points'

In a 1-1 draw that matters for Chelsea’s domestic momentum, chelsea vs burnley finished with Zian Flemming’s 93rd-minute leveller cancelling out João Pedro’s early strike. The match was defined by Wesley Fofana’s 72nd-minute dismissal and leaves Chelsea with 17 dropped home points and a league-high six red cards this season.

Rosenior’s blunt reaction and his recent arrival

Head coach Liam Rosenior, appointed after Enzo Maresca left the club on New Year’s Day following a falling-out with the hierarchy, said this was the first result to prompt such an angry reaction since he took charge. He warned there will be an "inquest after every game whether we win or lose" and added: "I'm learning about the players. I'm learning about the people you can lean on when things aren't going your way and you need to see a game out. That's something we need to address very quickly. " Rosenior also pointed to recent missed opportunities, lamenting that his side had "set fire to four points" after drawing 2-2 at home to Leeds in their previous league match.

Chelsea Vs Burnley: Fofana red card, the numerical toll and match turning point

Wesley Fofana was sent off in the 72nd minute — a second yellow for a foul on James Ward-Prowse — and that dismissal was described as his first sending-off in English football. The red card directly preceded Chelsea’s collapse after João Pedro had opened the scoring. The club now has a league-high six red cards this term, equalling their joint-most in a single Premier League campaign, a mark last matched in 2007-08, with 11 games still to play. Chelsea have dropped 17 points from winning positions at home this season. Only away at Nottingham Forest have they claimed all three points after going down to 10 men, holding on following an 87th-minute dismissal. Rosenior and players acknowledged the red card changed the game; João Pedro said the red card "made things difficult" and that before it "we should have put the game to bed. "

Set-piece failures: Flemming’s late header and defensive lapses

Burnley substitute Zian Flemming nodded home a James Ward-Prowse corner in added time to salvage a point, after being given a free header in the centre of Chelsea's box. Jacob Bruun Larsen then headed a near-identical Ward-Prowse corner over the bar minutes later. Rosenior pointed to a missed marking assignment, saying "A marking assignment was missed" and adding he would protect his players but deal with it in training. He also admitted: "Our record defending set plays is not of the level required. " Richards criticised the defending, calling Chelsea's set-piece defending "too easy" to play against. Ward-Prowse’s delivery from dead balls was singled out as decisive; Chelsea conceded an injury-time leveller from his corner after earlier suffering from similar vulnerabilities.

Discipline, fair play standings and the youth of the squad

Chelsea sit bottom of the Fair Play table with 86 points, having accumulated 60 yellow cards this season; they were second-bottom last season and bottom the season before. The club’s disciplinary issues are linked in the coverage to squad profile: Chelsea have not fielded a player over the age of 28 all season and possess the youngest squad in the Premier League, a profile deliberately built by the club’s hierarchy. Several recent results — defeats to Manchester United, Brighton and Fulham — have been influenced by red cards earlier in those matches, while Chelsea rallied well after Moisés Caicedo was sent off in a home draw with Arsenal in November.

Burnley resilience, team changes and individual notes

Burnley’s point will help morale as the club "still stare down the barrel of relegation, " but Scott Parker highlighted the squad's resilience: "We've had a big challenge this year. At times we've fallen a little bit short. The one thing we have not fallen short on is the resilience of this group. We keep fighting, we keep coming. " Parker selected the same starting XI that had staged a comeback win at Crystal Palace, despite only two survivors from the side that lost to Mansfield in the FA Cup the previous weekend. Early in the match, Moisés Caicedo played a pass from deep to Pedro Neto, whose cross was met by a sliding João Pedro for the opener. Bashir Humphreys, shifted to central defence, executed a last-man challenge on Cole Palmer after Kyle Walker was removed at half-time. Marcus Edwards’ free-kick failed to trouble the game, and Ward-Prowse had been introduced on 57 minutes to seek dead-ball opportunities; his previous direct free-kick goal came against Chelsea for Southampton three years ago this week, and his corner delivery was pivotal here. Rosenior had given players four days off prior to the match, with Cole Palmer heading to Dubai; Estêvão was absent with a hamstring problem and Roméo Lavia was named on the bench after using virtual reality to fine-tune decision-making during convalescence.

Player reaction: João Pedro’s mixed emotions

João Pedro celebrated personally but was frustrated by the outcome, saying: "We are very frustrated with the result, and especially because we did exactly the same in the last [Premier League] game [against Leeds]. We did enough to win the game, but we couldn't find the second goal that we needed. " He described being "very happy" to score — it was his 14th in all competitions since his summer switch from Brighton, not counting last season's Club World Cup win — but added: "It's just frustrating when you don't have the points to go with it... I was very pleased to score but it wasn't enough and we're frustrated we didn't get the three points to go with the goal. "