Chelsea 2-2 Burnley: Clarets twice come from behind after controversial red card with Cole Palmer’s brace not enough to stop Blues dropping more points

Chelsea led twice against a Burnley team that had just ten men and no manager on the sidelines after Vincent Kompany was shown a red card for his protest. And yet that capacity for chaos and capitulation was evident once again at Stamford Bridge.

Mauricio Pochettino claimed this week that statistics say his side should preside over the Premier League’s top four. Not when you look so lost. Not if you concede at least two goals on your own turf for the fifth game in a row. Not when you surrender leads so easily.

The Chelsea fans booed at full-time, knowing this was a missed opportunity to move into the top half of the table. The hopes this club has of secretly gaining a European spot through the Premier League are quickly evaporating.

Cole Palmer had given them the lead at the end of the first half, once again showing why he is the coolest man in Chelsea.

Palmer had to wait four minutes and 19 seconds, while a whole host of problems had to be resolved before he could score. While Chelsea’s penalty was checked by VAR. While Burnley’s Lorenz Assignon protested his second yellow. While Kompany himself received a red card.

O’Shea rose high to head home from a corner in the 81st minute to make it another day to forget for the Blues

It was another disappointing afternoon for Mauricio Pochettino, who cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines throughout

And then Palmer scored, a Panenka that confirmed him as the youngest Chelsea player ever to score 20 goals in a Premier League season.

When Josh Cullen equalized it was Palmer who put them ahead again. Yet Dara O’Shea’s header was the final blow as Chelsea were denied victory and Pochettino disappeared through the tunnel to cheers.

Chelsea had not won a single match this season after an international break. There was the 0-0 with Bournemouth in September. The 2-2 with Arsenal in October. The 4-1 defeat to Newcastle in November – one of Pochettino’s most miserable afternoons since becoming manager, and there have been a few.

In a bid to extend that winless streak even further, Burnley piled on the pressure, with one ball behind Chelsea’s defense leading to Jacob Bruun Larsen’s effort being dragged wide. Vincent Kompany’s visitors did not look like relegation fodder. They looked comfortable.

After ten minutes of defending more than attacking, Chelsea finally surged forward when Mykhailo Mudryk set up Enzo Fernandez, who was denied as Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric tapped the ball onto the crossbar.

Cole Palmer had given his side the lead for the second time in the match with a neat finish just three minutes earlier

Palmer celebrates after putting his side back ahead in the Premier League match with his second goal of the match

In the 14th minute, Muric took a quick free kick on the left side. It found Wilson Odobert, who forced his way inside before unleashing a curler that looked destined for the corner until Djordje Petrovic pushed it wide.

Chelsea continued the ‘you shoot, we shoot’ mentality that seemed to follow this match in the early exchanges and came close when Palmer set up Nicolas Jackson. Quick feet left the striker with only Muric behind, but a suffocating save followed.

Chelsea scored in the 20th minute when Mudryk headed the ball home from a corner taken too short for Axel Disasi. But despite his celebration, it turned out that he was not using his head. It took an arm to direct the ball into the goal as VAR John Brooks ruled out his opener.

While it was the right decision, it was an embarrassment for both Mudryk and Disasi. After replacing Raheem Sterling in Pochettino’s line-up, Mudryk looked confident, still carrying that swagger from his strike against Iceland that sent Ukraine to the 2024 European Championship.

He should have given Chelsea the lead when a counter-attack saw the ball pass from Palmer to Jackson to Mudryk, who had a clear view of the entire goal. Muric was a grateful goalkeeper when the shot flew into his arms.

Burnley’s Josh Cullen celebrates after leveling the visitors two minutes into the second half at Stamford Bridge

Cullen stunned the home crowd with a brilliant strike from outside the penalty area to give his side a perfect start to the second half

Mudryk was involved in Chelsea eventually taking the lead when he knocked the ball into the penalty area and behind Lorenz Assignon, who brought it down. Referee Darren England took his time. First he awarded the punishment. He then showed a second yellow to Assignon. Kompany went all out and unleashed his outrage on the fourth official James Bell. Before that, he himself received a red card when England told him to leave the tunnel.

What did Palmer do after waiting four minutes and 19 seconds? He scored a left-footed Panenka, straight down the middle, as Muric dived aside. With a 1-0 lead and a ten-man lead, you expected Chelsea to have enough to confirm this victory in the second half.

Yet Burnley made it 1-1 in the 47th minute. It was a beautiful goal too, as Cullen and substitute Josh Brownhill exchanged a one-two. It ended with Cullen hitting the ball past Petrovic with the outside of his right boot for his first ever Premier League goal.

Burnley would have taken the lead in the 57th minute if Petrovic’s quick reactions had not stopped Lyle Foster’s header when Benoit Badiashile then blocked his rebound. That shook up Chelsea, who took control in their search for a winner.

Cole Palmer broke the deadlock on the day with a penalty in the middle after a controversial penalty had been awarded

Palmer continued his brilliant debut season, but his efforts were not enough to prevent Chelsea from dropping further points

Muric was asked repeatedly for denying Jackson twice and Palmer twice. Inevitably, Burnley’s brick wall was eventually breached and it was substitute Sterling who created the ball, allowing Palmer to tap the ball back to make it 2-1 after 78 minutes.

Yet it was 2-2 in the 80th minute when Burnley equalized. How simple it was, a corner from Cullen and a header from O’Shea as the fans’ frustration returned. The defense from the set-piece was weak, as was Petrovic’s save attempt.

Burnley might also have won the match when Jay Rodriguez’s header hit the crossbar. A good point for them, a bad point for Chelsea.

Axel Disasi thought he had given the home side an early lead but was judged to have handled the ball at the back post

VAR disallowed the goal but decided to uphold the controversial penalty awarded later in the half