Chelsea endured a frustrating afternoon at a snowy Turf Moor as Burnley gave them a rough ride in the 1-1 draw.
The Clarets were more than good value for a draw and aside from Pedro and Robbie Brady’s goals, the best chances fell to them.
Avoiding defeat on uncomfortable days such as this is never a bad thing although Blues fans have been fed a diet of perpetual success this season.
Here’s how Chelsea rated.
Thibaut Courtois 7: Made a pair of routine early saves and he didn’t have to move to stop a weak shot from well-positioned Gray. Used his feet to deny Lowton and was given no chance by Brady’s brilliance.
Cesar Azpilicueta 7: Mistakes pervaded Chelsea’s second half performance but Azpilicueta made fewer than most, if not all, of his colleagues. After taking a nasty hit from Barnes, he showed composure in playing back to Courtois and adapted his game to suit conditions.
David Luiz 5: Should have been punished for basic error that let Gray in on goal. Otherwise was positionally solid when the ball was launched into the box, as it was so often by Burnley.
Gary Cahill 6: The moments with which he caught the eye were a flying block from Boyd and when he was caught on his heels by Matic’s underhit pass. This summed up a mixed afternoon for the committed defender.
Victor Moses 7: Did well before he was sacrificed for the switch to 4-2-4. Moses’ incisive run and cross built the goal and he continued to impress despite Alonso, his opposite number, enjoyed far more space and time out wide.
N’Golo Kante 6: The home side’s tactic of bypassing the Chelsea midfield meant he did not quite have the chance to break up as many attacks as usual, although his excellent distribution in the first half made up for that.
Nemanja Matic 4: The Serbian chose this afternoon to have his off-day. Didn’t pick the wrong option with his passes but their execution invariably went awry, while he found it tough screening the back three. Practically sprinted off the park and then to the team coach.
Marcos Alonso 6: The Spaniard enjoyed swathes of space down the left flank early on and was repeatedly put in crossing positions by his team-mates. Went missing for the Lowton chance and didn’t quite make the most of the time afforded to him.
Pedro 8: Put in a real shift off the ball, which might have been lost by those not in attendance at Turf Moor. Took his goal superbly and earned Chelsea the point as they created precious few other chances.
Diego Costa 6: Going through a lean patch at the moment by his stratospheric standards. Remains top scorer in the Premier League but came no closer to adding to his tally today.
Eden Hazard 6: Faded, like his team, after causing endless problems in the first ten minutes. Had a good chance to score very early on but picked out Heaton. Unlike Arsenal last week, not his sort of game.
Cesc Fabregas 6: Introduced to wrest back control of the game and he helped to do so, despite not being able to create the winning chance that Conte so wanted him to.
Willian 6: Was given 20 minutes to impact on the game but failed to do much in this sense, either positively or negatively.
Michy Batshuayi n/a: A rare appearance for the striker as he came off the bench in the 85th minute.
