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Liam Rosenior paid the price for Malo Gusto's lapse of judgement during Chelsea's clash against Burnley
Andrey Santos was absolutely furious with Malo Gusto during Chelsea's clash against Burnley. Midway through the second half at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, the 22-year-old defender squandered an excellent opportunity to double the Blues' lead.
Joao Pedro had broken the deadlock in the opening minutes, and Chelsea looked set to run riot. But the west Londoners took their foot off the pedal and invited Scott Parker's side back into the game.
Chelsea had struggled to carve open the visitors until Santos found Gusto in a pocket of space between the opposition centre-half and wing-back. The 21-year-old midfielder zipped a pass into his teammate, whose first touch put the Burnley backline on the back foot.
Enzo Fernandez held his run at the back post, Pedro darted into the six-yard box, and Palmer headed for the near post. As Gusto went to deliver the cross, he pulled out a party trick and turned his head away from play.
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To the disgust of Santos, who threw his arms up in the air and shouted in his direction, the France international's no-look cross was intercepted by Bashir Humphreys. Had Gusto not been so complacent during a spiky period in the tie, he could've found one of three teammates in the box and doubled the Blues' lead.
Instead, he tried to be clever and was left red-faced. The Frenchman's lackadaisical attitude later proved costly when Burnley pulled back an equaliser in the dying embers of stoppage time.
His decision spoke volumes about the mentality of some at Chelsea. After the game, Liam Rosenior was quizzed on his side's mentality and said: "From the first goal, we lacked incision when we had control. I want incision.
"I want us to create wave after wave of attack. We were too safe in our possession. When you give a team, any team, a one-goal advantage, anything can happen.
"The red card happens, you're down to 10 men. We knew their biggest threat with [James] Ward-Prowse on the pitch was set plays. We went as big as we possibly could because that was the only way they could score with 10 men.
"We still don't see it out. I think the frustration is more the last two home games. From being in winning positions and being in control of the game to not win the two games, that's the biggest frustration. It's not a blame on an individual."
Rosenior added: "Anyone watching the game, it's not good enough for a club of this level. It's not good enough for me to come and say we were the better team.
"We need to be the better team in every game. We need to win games of football. I know what the answer is and we will address it in the week. There's an inquest after every game whether we win or lose. I'm learning about the players.
"I'm learning about the people you can lean on when things aren't going your way and you need to see a game out. That's something we need to address very quickly."
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