Chelsea are left shattered by late drama this time as they fail to follow up on win over Man United, writes KIERAN GILL
The pigeon that somehow invaded the Bramall Lane press room felt like a fitting reminder of the flapping on show from Mauricio Pochettino’s band of multimillion-pound players, Sunday’s surrender being the latest example in a season plagued by softness.
Chelsea had chances to clear their lines in stoppage time against the side propping up the Premier League table. Instead, they watched as Gustavo Hamer and Cameron Archer won headers ahead of Mykhailo Mudryk and Trevoh Chalobah to leave Oli McBurnie to equalise for a Sheffield United side that never said die.
McBurnie’s leveller meant Chelsea have now conceded at least twice in their last seven consecutive games. It is a concerning record for a team trying to think big, and this collapse did little to disprove their critics who claim they have turned into the Robin Hood of the Premier League.
They say Chelsea’s last six matches sum up their unhelpful habit for taking from the rich and giving to the poor. They frustrate Manchester City, then they draw with Brentford. They defeat Newcastle, then they draw with Burnley. They beat Manchester United in a match of high drama, then they draw here, with Pochettino admitting afterwards that they got what they deserved.
‘Of course they were tired but that is not an excuse today to not win the game in the end,’ Pochettino said when asked about Thursday’s thriller with United at Stamford Bridge, a game in which Cole Palmer scored in the 10th and 11th minutes of stoppage time. ‘They can be tired, of course. That is why we have an unbelievable training centre to provide everything – food, vitamins, recovery, swimming pool, masseurs, all that you know.
Chelsea thought they had secured victory at Sheffield United with Noni Madueke’s strike
However, Oli McBurnie dramatically netted in the 93rd minute to secure a point for the Blades
Thiago Silva was unmarked when he volleyed home from 10 yards to put the visitors in front
‘But then it is about being competitive. Watching football like us, 52 years old, you identify very quickly whether the team is ready to compete or not. Today, that happened, maybe this group is not mature enough to compete in games every three days.’
It looked like Noni Madueke’s second-half strike would prove the winner for Chelsea but Chris Wilder praised his players’ desire in saying: ‘The boys went full tilt against top players. At the end, we went for it. The performance of the players ignited the crowd.’
Pochettino performed some tactical tweaking, placing Madueke on the right with Palmer in the centre behind Nicolas Jackson and Conor Gallagher on the left. It was a powerful run inside from Madueke that led to Chelsea scoring after 11 minutes.
After forcing Ivo Grbic into a save, Chelsea were left with a corner. Gallagher’s out-swinging cross landed at the feet of an unmarked Thiago Silva, the 39-year-old making no mistake in volleying from 10 yards. It was embarrassing defending from United, even if Axel Disasi had acted as a nightclub bouncer in stopping Silva’s marker from following him.
After United’s gift, Silva nearly returned the favour when his back pass for Djordje Petrovic was short. McBurnie intercepted it before setting up Ben Brereton Diaz, who would have scored were it not for the backside of Moises Caicedo getting in the way.
United began to believe they could trouble the visitors as Hamer skinned Caicedo before forcing Petrovic into a diving save. Chelsea did not do enough to change the new momentum of this match as the equaliser arrived in the 32nd minute.
It involved Hamer nutmegging Caicedo with a pass played in behind Cucurella, who was oblivious to the run of Jayden Bogle. Petrovic thought a cross was coming as he stepped away from his line, only for the ball to bounce off him and nestle in the net. For the 12th Premier League away game in succession, Chelsea’s clean sheet was extinguished.
United took the game to Chelsea. In the 49th minute, they came close to taking the lead as McBurnie headed wide after out-muscling Trevoh Chalobah. In the 53rd, Hamer fired a 25-yard rocket that landed in the side-netting.
Palmer was left on the ground in pain after an awful challenge by Jack Robinson. It was late, rash, and potentially dangerous. Referee Robert Jones showed the yellow rather than red.
Jayden Bogle fooled the goalkeeper into thinking a cross was coming before his first-half goal
Mauricio Pochettino made late changes for Chelsea, but was unable to prevent the equaliser
Blades star McBurnie only had Djordje Petrovic to beat in stoppage time to make it 2-2
Palmer was involved in Chelsea retaking the lead in the 66th minute as he passed to Madueke, who cut inside of Auston Trusty. That opened up the goal for him as he beat Grbic from 20 yards. With that, United had broken the record for most home goals conceded in a season in Premier League history.
Hungry for a goal of his own, Palmer forced Grbic into tipping over from 30 yards, but that turned out to be his last contribution as Carney Chukwuemeka was introduced.
As five minutes of stoppage time were announced, Pochettino made further changes in a bid to confirm the victory. Yet then, United scored as Hamer’s header was flicked on by Archer to leave McBurnie through on goal to complete the collapse of Chelsea.
