Chelsea 1-1 Burnley
Jose Mourinho angrily listed four crucial moments on which he felt his 10-man Chelsea side’s 1-1 draw with Burnley swung at Stanford Bridge today.
Nemanja Matic was sent off with 20 minutes left to play for reacting to a shocking – and unpunished – Ashley Barnes tackle.
Within the first 15 minutes, Branislav Ivanovic opened the scoring with his fourth goal in six games but Ben Mee’s 81st minute header gave Burnley a vital point in their battle to beat relegation.
The Blues’ boss felt the result was unfair as Barnes, who forced the corner that led to the Clarets’ equaliser, should have been sent off on two occasions – the first after just half an hour.
“This game had four crucial moments, minute 30, minute 33, minute 43 and minute 69 and this is the story of the game,” said a calm but seathing Mourinho.
“The player (Ashley Barnes), if I can call him a player, that was involved in the 69th minute incident was involved in the 30th minute, and normally should have been in the shower by the 31st.
“To describe today’s events I have to use words that I cannot. It is better we finish. I don’t want to look silly in front of you. I am surprised we didn’t lose.”
The Chelsea boss remains pessimistic about any appeal Chelsea may lodge against Matic’s three game ban, which would keep the Serbian midfielder out of Sunday’s Capital One Cup final.
“Have you ever seen Chelsea win an appeal? I can’t remember one,” he said.
The scoreline was fitting for a fixture billed as the Game for Equality, before which Blues’ fans held up anti-racism banners including one in the Shed End which read “black or white we’re all blue”.
Feature image taken by Armel Tanguy
