Chelsea 1 Burnley 1: Nemanja Matic's red card cost his team the game - and maybe more games to come

Try as they might, Chelsea can't avoid being in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Nemanja Matic was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after pushing Ashley Barnes to the floor and Burnley secured a late equaliser to cost them a significant two points in the title race.

It also means Matic will be suspended for the Capital One Cup Final against Tottenham, plus League games against West Ham and Southampton.

Matic is not known for such a loss of cool and in fairness, there was some mighty provocation.

Barnes produced the kind of tackle that could break a player's leg just beforehand, one of many incidents missed by referee Martin Atkinson. Still, Matic's moment of madness cost his side in this game and maybe in key matches to come.

He was not alone in losing his rag either - assistant manager Rui Faria had to be separated from one of Burnley's coaching staff at the final whistle as tempers on both sides threatened to flare out of control.

The spotlight was already on Chelsea more than ever as this was the first outing since the much publicised racist incident involving their fans in Paris, which brought shame on the club.

Chelsea and the supporters were doing the utmost to be on their best behaviour against Burnley, in what was the club's pre-arranged match for Equality.

open image in gallery

Captain John Terry, chairman Bruce Buck and manager Jose Mourinho spoke out against what happened to local black resident Souleymane on the Paris Metro in the programme - a view clearly shared by those in the stands - one banner held aloft read 'black or white, we're all blue'.

Without being their best, Chelsea should have secured the points long before the late mayhem.

Branislav Ivanovic put the home side in front after 14 minutes, but a combination of wasteful finishing and overplaying in the penalty area cost them.

Also Atkinson turned down two strong penalty appeals, one for Michael Kightly blocking an Ivanovic shot with his arm and another for Jason Shackell's shove on Diego Costa in the area.

Burnley certainly capitalised on Matic's departure. Villain of the afternoon Barnes, who will surely face retrospective action from the FA, almost applied the telling blow when his shot was superbly tipped wide by Thibaut Courtois.

But from the resulting corner, Ben Mee climbed high at the back post to stun Stamford Bridge and give Manchester City renewed hope in the title race ahead of their match against Newcastle.