Fighting Burnley grab point at Chelsea

Burnley showed tremendous fighting spirit and were driven by a magnificent performance from goalkeeper Nick Pope to earn a 1-1 draw at Premier League leaders Chelsea, the Clarets’ manager Sean Dyche said.

Pope racked up a string of outstanding saves either side of a 33rd-minute Kai Havertz opener for dominant Chelsea, who were undone in the 79th when substitute Matej Vydra struck for the visitors out of the blue.

Dyche, who endured a difficult start to the current Premier League campaign, was delighted after Burnley withstood torrid pressure from Chelsea and levelled completely against the run of play at Stamford Bridge.

“The lads worked terrifically hard,” he told the BBC. “They (Chelsea) are a top side. They were all over us in the first half. We hung in there really, great saves by Nick Pope.

“We felt the game might calm slightly and we found better moments in the second half. When you come to these clubs and they’re flying like they are, you might need your keeper to play well. He was fantastic.

“I can’t credit Chelsea enough. They’re a top outfit. You stay in it for a chance.”

The unlikely outcome came on the back of Burnley’s first league win of the season when they beat promoted Brentford 3-1 at home last Saturday and Dyche acknowledged hard work had started to bear fruit.

“They weren’t getting a lot of rewards for decent performances,” he said. “They got the reward and they come here and the mentality was on show today.

“It’s important to get this point (against Chelsea) as nobody gives you a chance at these clubs.”

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel rued his team’s missed chances.

“You know this can happen,” he said. “We are in a good place. We deserved more today. It’s our fault. We should have scored. We created so many chances.

“You have the opponent where you want to have them. You create so many chances. We let them believe it was possible to steal a point by pure luck and that’s what happened.” (Reuters)