Liam Rosenior has sensationally pointed the finger at one of his own Chelsea players for gifting Burnley a late equaliser in Saturday’s painful 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge – a moment the Blues boss described as a missed marking assignment that handed the visitors a point on a silver platter.
Chelsea had looked set for a hard-fought victory after Joao Pedro’s opener, leading for the vast majority of the contest. But in the dying seconds of stoppage time, they were cruelly robbed – not by Burnley’s brilliance, but by their own failure to follow a simple set-piece plan.
It was the 12th goal Chelsea have conceded from set-pieces this season – joint-fifth worst in the league – and it came despite Rosenior’s desperate late measures to shut the game down.
Even after Wesley Fofana’s red card changed the dynamic, the Blues still had more than enough quality on the pitch. Rosenior threw on three extra defenders in the closing minutes, leaving Chelsea with FOUR centre-backs on the field: Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, Mamadou Sarr and Josh Acheampong.
Yet when James Ward-Prowse swung in that corner, Zian Flemming rose unmarked to power home the header.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, a visibly furious Rosenior refused to name names but made it crystal clear exactly what went wrong.
“An assignment was missed,” he said. “An assignment, a marking assignment, wasn’t done.
“Flemming, we know, is their best header of the ball. And there was a player… I won’t throw players under the bus. I will always protect my players. I will deal with it during the week.
“There was a player we assigned that duty who marked the wrong player.”
The revelation has stunned Chelsea fans. While Rosenior was careful not to publicly crucify the individual, the message was unmistakable: one of his stars had gift-wrapped the equaliser and cost the team two precious points.
Rosenior had clearly done his homework, identifying Ward-Prowse’s set-pieces as Burnley’s only realistic route back into the game. He went as big and physical as possible in those final moments – and still it wasn’t enough because the plan wasn’t executed.
“I felt the only way Burnley were going to score in that moment was from a Ward-Prowse set play,” he admitted. “I tried to go as big as possible. We had enough on the pitch to deal with that moment… and we didn’t. And this cost us two more points.”
Chelsea were robbed. Not by the referee, not by Burnley, but by their own. One simple mistake, one ignored assignment, one shocking lapse in concentration – and a win was turned into a draw on a silver platter.