Chelsea entered the game proactively and soon had the opening goal thanks to Joao Pedro. The game was under the control of the home team until the turning point occurred in the 72nd minute, when Wesley Fofana received a red card and left the field.
Playing with one less player, Chelsea gradually lost their solidity and paid the price in the third minute of injury time when Zian Flemming headed in a goal from James Ward Prowse's corner kick. The draw result made Chelsea temporarily rank fourth in the Premier League, however they will be overtaken by Manchester United, if the Red Devils win 3 points in this round.
Commenting after the match, Owen Hargreaves frankly pointed out that the reason came from inexperience. He said: "I think it's due to lack of experience. Chelsea is not even a bad team. Some teams in the old days really played tough and received very heavy red cards. Chelsea's red cards are quite silly.
The former midfielder also raised the issue of transfer strategy. He said: "Once again, the issue comes back to player recruitment. They have spent a lot of money, they have excellent attacking players. But the center-back and goalkeeper positions are where they need to add experienced players.
Hargreaves mentioned the case of Thiago Silva. He said: "You think they used to have Thiago Silva, one of the best players, but they let him go for free. They have many talented young players, but I don't think using young center-backs alone is the right decision.
Meanwhile, coach Liam Rosenior did not blame Fofana personally. He said: "It's not Wesley's fault. It's the whole team's fault. Right from the first goal, we lacked sharpness when controlling the ball.
I want that sharpness. I want us to create continuous attacks. We were too safe when holding the ball.
