Chris Wilson
A battling Burnley side held league leaders Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor on Sunday, which opens up the opportunity for the Blues’ lead to be cut to eight points if Manchester City can capitalise tomorrow night.
As for Burnley, a point pulls them further away from danger and puts them on thirty points, meaning safety is only seemingly just three wins away.
A fast start from the League leaders
However, things could have turned out very different for the Clarets today after they fell behind within the opening seven minutes.
A warning sign had come just a minute previous when Diego Costa slipped Eden Hazard through on goal, but his tame effort was easily gathered by Tom Heaton.
The Clarets didn’t adhere to the warning sign, and alarm bells were ringing when Victor Moses picked the ball up on the counter attack and his through ball found Pedro, who calmly slotted past a hapless Tom Heaton.
Burnley twice came close to breaking down a resilient Chelsea defence through Ashley Barnes, who tested Courtois on his left foot minutes after the goal, before bending a right footed shot agonisingly wide of the far post.
Raptures
Midway through the first half, the Clarets did manage to draw themselves level. A moment of sheer brilliance by club record signing Robbie Brady made it 1-1. The Irishman struck a scintillating free kick from circa 30 yards to stun the visitors and send Turf Moor into raptures.
From then on in, Burnley were the side in the ascendancy, and could have snatched the lead when Matt Lowton was played in on goal. The right back failed to beat Courtois though after the Belgian ‘keeper a smart stop with his legs.
The second half was relatively chance free, with the best chance falling to Andre Gray. Gray was put in on goal by Ashley Barnes, but the tame right footed effort was comfortably saved by Courtois.
Cesar Azpiliceuta produced Chelsea’s only chance of the second half with a 30 yard drive, which forced Heaton to fly across his goal, but the Spaniard’s effort flew just over the bar.
Overall
All in all it was a great point for Burnley given the fact the bottom three all dropped points over the weekend. They  edged closer to the magical 40 point safety mark.
The Clarets remain in 12th position but they have extended their lead over the bottom three to 10 points and Premier League survival is edging ever nearer.
As for Chelsea, they will see it as a point gained, rather than two dropped when you consider how strong Burnley are at home, but they will be disappointed to have squandered a lead.
Chelsea strengthen their lead at the top, opening the gap to eight points to second place Tottenham Hotspur, although the gap could be at eight points if Manchester City take maximum points at Bournemouth.