Chelsea struggled to get a point at Burnley

Despite an early opening goal by Pedro, Conte's team should have lost if the home team's strikers had finished better.

Chelsea struggled to get a point at Burnley

The match seemed to be in Chelsea's control when they opened the scoring in the seventh minute through Pedro after a counter-attack. However, Burnley continued to show their mettle as the third best home team in the Premier League this year by equalizing in the 24th minute through a beautiful free-kick from Robert Brady. In the remaining minutes of the match, Burnley created more scoring opportunities but could not take advantage.

The home team had two situations against Thibaut Courtois. The first happened in the 36th minute, Matthew Lowton shot between the legs of the Chelsea goalkeeper but failed. The second was even more favorable, from a counter-attack, Ashley Barnes had a pass just in time for Andre Gray. However, the Burnley striker had a very gentle one-touch finish and Courtois easily dived to catch the ball. In this situation, Chelsea center-back David Luiz almost became the culprit when he let the ball go after Barnes' pass.

Heavy snowfall throughout the game made the Turf Moor pitch slippery and reduced visibility for the players. Chelsea continued to prove that counter-attacking is their best weapon this season when they scored their first goal. The speed of Victor Moses and Pedro left Burnley unable to react when they retreated back into their own half.

Andre Gray missed a great chance in the second half. Photo: Reuters.

After this goal, Chelsea clearly showed their intention to trap their opponents. They played slowly and gave Burnley space to advance. Conte's students had some favorable counter-attacks but Burnley's defense showed good organization with the ability to cover each other. While Burnley's attack did not show any positive signs, Robert Brady brought home the equalizer.

Brady had a brilliant free kick with his left foot, sending the ball in an arc, hitting the top right corner of Courtois' goal, causing the Chelsea goalkeeper to fly as far as he could but only lightly touch the ball. Before taking the kick, Brady stood and ran to gain momentum like Cristiano Ronaldo.

Brady was a deadline day signing for Burnley in January. The Irish midfielder had previously played for Norwich. This was his first start for Burnley, with the hosts missing three key midfielders through injury and suspension. Brady is the first player to score a free-kick against Chelsea since Rickie Lambert in 2013.

Brady's beautiful free kick goal. Photo: Reuters.

Burnley deployed a reasonably long ball game in the second half, causing Chelsea a lot of trouble. Coach Sean Dyche seemed to remind his players to limit their high-up play and instead use long balls from home for the strikers to compete. Defensively, Burnley let Chelsea have the ball but the home players were ready to play tough when the opponent brought the ball close to the penalty area. Their defense kept Diego Costa and Eden Hazard quiet in this match.

Apart from Pedro's goal, Chelsea barely had any dangerous shots in the game. Their attack lacked creativity and although Antonio Conte introduced Cesc Fabregas late in the second half, there was not enough time for the Spaniard to make an impact. The holding midfield pairing of Nemanja Matic and N'golo Kante has kept Chelsea solid, but against well-organised teams like this, Conte's side have shown they need a creative midfielder.

Burnley centre-back Michael Keane was voted man of the match when he nullified the opponent's main striker Diego Costa. Despite only getting a draw, Chelsea still widened the gap with second-placed Tottenham to 10 points because in this round, "The Rooster" lost 0-2 at Liverpool. Meanwhile, Burnley is in 12th place with 30 points. Including this match, 29 of those 30 points were won at home.

According to VNE