Boy, it’s a tough week to be a Chelsea fan. First, an underwhelming performance in Paris, followed by a revealing video of Chelsea “fans” displaying appalling racist behaviour on the Paris metro. And now this. Saturday morning’s game against Burnley was shaping up to be a straightforward match for the Blues. They were at home, playing against a team from the bottom three of the table. Other than an in-form Danny Ings, the Clarets shouldn’t have presented much of a threat to this Chelsea side. Mourinho started a pretty strong team with Courtois keeping his place in goal, while the backline saw Zouma make his fourth consecutive Premier League start. Filipe Luis also started at left back, Cuadrado started on the right midfield, and Oscar began in the number 10 role.
Chelsea began the game somewhat slow, enjoying a decent amount of possession, but failing to create many clear opportunities. In the fourth minute, Luis played a great ball into the box, and Cuadrado got a head to the ball, forcing the Burnley goalkeeper to make a good save. In the 13th minute, Chelsea would find a breakthrough, thanks to the pure skill of Eden Hazard. He beat 4 defenders off the dribble and passed the ball backward to none other than Branislav Ivanovic, who was once again in the perfect position to finish off the play and put the Blues up 1-0. After the goal Chelsea seemingly backed off, inviting pressure from Burnley, who played well, but couldn’t create any dynamic chances. The 32nd minute would begin the controversy at the Bridge. Branislav Ivanovic took a strong shot from just outside the 18 and it was blocked by the hand of Michael Kightly. It was such an obvious penalty, that it appeared intentional. However, the theme of Chelsea being denied clear penalties was continued on Saturday, as Martin Atkinson waved off all penalty claims. In the 44th minute, Chelsea was denied a second clear penalty by Atkinson. Diego Costa made a good run in the box and was blatantly pushed over by Jason Shackell, but all protests were quickly dismissed by Atkinson. The half would end with Chelsea feeling hard done by, as they could have been up 3-0.
The second half would begin much like the first half ended. The Blues enjoyed good spells of possession but not leading to many concrete chances. However, the game would turn on its head in the 70th minute. Ashley Barnes dived into an absolutely criminal challenge taking down Chelsea’s, Nemanja Matic. In all honesty, Matic was lucky to stand up after the tackle. Barnes slid studs up and made solid contact high up on the side of Matic’s leg. Matic stood up right away and furiously ran at Barnes, pushing him to the ground. The tussle was quickly broken up by the referee and Matic saw red. Barnes controversially received nothing for the tackle. Chelsea went down to 10 men, and Ramires would come on for Oscar to add another defensive midfielder for the Blues. A few minutes later, they would concede a goal on a corner kick. The Burnley left-back Mee got a head to the ball, while Ramires was marking him. The ball was simply too high for Ramires to deal with, which of course brings up the question, would that have been Matic’s man? Obviously if it was, Matic would have had no trouble dealing with the height of the cross. Chelsea would bring on Drogba, but the Blues would be unable to find a winner, and would settle for a disappointing draw.
What does this means for the Blues?
First and foremost, it means that Chelsea’s lead over Manchester City falls to a five point deficit, as Manchester City were head and shoulders above Newcastle at the Ethiad Stadium, winning 5-0. It also means that Chelsea will be without Matic for at least the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. I am sure the FA will review the play and ban Matic further, but I cannot say for certain (even though I probably can). Chelsea will need to cope without Matic for the foreseeable future, against tough opponents in Spurs, Southampton, and West Ham. Chelsea have not been overwhelmingly successful without Matic in the side, losing their first league match, the first game he had to sit out against Newcastle.
Overall Reaction
When #CampaignAgainstChelsea began, I tried not to easily fall into that mind set. However, as weeks have passed and incidents have intensified, it’s tough to deny Jose Mourinho has a point. As he mentioned in today’s post-match conference, he has never seen a run of non-decisions like this before. As far as the Matic incident, there are several comments I must make. Ashley Barnes’s tackle on our stalwart was absolutely disgusting. In fact, it was so brutal that I find it a miracle that Matic was able to get up that quickly and react the way he did. In a way, we are lucky that he was able to bounce up and only miss 3 games, rather than be out for the rest of the season with a broken leg. As far as his reaction goes, I can’t necessarily blame him. Matic is not a player with a violent history, but actually quite the opposite. He is known for how cool he handles pressured situations. Therefore, I can forgive his reaction, given the assumed pain, and his prior reputation. However, in football, retaliation is a straight red card, and maybe the one thing Atkinson did right all night was send-off Matic. That being said, the fact that he does not also give Barnes a red card for the challenge is just unforgivable. I am sick of hearing the FA’s coined phrase, “brought the game into disrepute”. Martin Atkinson as a referee has brought the game into disrepute. If he did not see the plays in question, then it is unacceptable for him to be refereeing. If he has seen the plays, and has strictly waved them off, then it is a matter of bias, or lack of judgement. Either way, there is no excuse for refereeing of that calibre and if anyone deserves retrospective punishment, it would be nice to see a referee get it. Finally, if the FA retrospectively punishes Matic for his retaliation, and fails to deal with Barnes as well, than I would suggest that the FA is beginning to draw comparisons with FIFA as far as levels of corruption or blind stupidity. Chelsea should feel hard done by with the result today, and knowing the FA, they are not out of the woods yet. Hopefully, we can rebound well and prepare for a hard fought match against Tottenham at Wembley.
Find more from Tyler on twitter @tyler_strauss_
