EPL 2016-17: Burnley 1-1 Chelsea, 5 talking points
You know the weather is bad when David Luiz comes on to play in a ponytail. Burnley hosted league-leaders Chelsea at Turf Moor in the swirling wind and snow in the hope of pegging back the champions-elect as they worked to maintain their impressive home record. Even though their clean sheet record of five in six home games disapparated early on in the game through Pedro’s seventh-minute goal, the Clarets weren’t about to go down too easily.
Matic’s foul just yards from the box set the hosts up for a free kick right in front of goal. Robbie Brady cued up his shot and scored from a beautiful curling kick on his home debut since his move from Norwich City in January. As the match continued level, the Blues pushed harder and the newly promoted side dug their heels in even further. While the game started off slow, it grew into an enthralling contest between two determined sides.
As Chelsea go home with a single point from the outing, here are the five major talking points from the game:
#1 Burnley’s early mistakes
Burnley were late to arrive at their own party as they allowed Chelsea to have the run of the pitch in the opening half hour of the game. The Blues dominated possession and went fairly unchallenged for long spells while the home side sat back and allowed their opponents to dictate the terms of their engagement. Chelsea made the most of their early dominance, running at the opposition which resulted in Pedro’s goal in the seventh minute.
In fact, this was the earliest goal Burnley have conceded at home this season by 30 minutes and the league leaders looked like they were about to run away with the game. Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso went largely unchecked in the opening minutes of the game which allowed them acres of space to run into. It was this lack of man-marking that also led to Chelsea’s goal as Moses burst forward with no one to stop him as he supplied Pedro with the assist.