Noni Madueke has said Chelsea’s inability to build momentum this season has been the club’s ‘Achilles heel’.
Chelsea suffered a setback in their bid for European football after drawing 2-2 with struggling Sheffield United on Sunday, a fixture that saw the Blues concede a stoppage-time equaliser at Bramall Lane.
Thiago Silva opened the scoring for Chelsea from a set piece, but Sheffield United bounced back to equalise as Jayden Bogle fired in a near-post finish.
Madueke’s goal looked set to be the winner for Chelsea, as the west Londoners sought to earn back-to-back wins after a dramatic victory over Manchester United on Thursday.
However, McBurnie steered in from close range on 93 minutes to rescue a result for the relegation-threatened Blades.
“I am not really bothered it didn’t turn into a winning goal but our Achilles heel this season has been cashing in on momentum, we had an amazing result [against Manchester United] and we needed to keep it rolling,” Madueke said to BBC Match of the Day.
“We should have got the three points today but we have to keep going.
“It will always be tough to come here in the sense that when Chelsea come to town and, no disrespect, when you are fighting for your life you feel you have nothing to lose.
“It felt like a game we should have won and right up to the end it looked like it.
“There’s positives, we’re in a semi-final, unbeaten run but these are the games we need to grind out. We would have put pressure on the European spots with a win today.
“There still has to be belief we can do it. We need to grind these types of games out and get the three points.”
Asked on the atmosphere inside the Chelsea dressing room at full-time, Madueke addeD: “Silent to be honest. Of course we should have won the game, the fashion we lost it in [is bad].
“The way we drop points sometimes, it was in the palm of our hands.
“There is still games to go, we have to stick together and I have faith we can finish in the places we want to finish in.
“There is some positives for sure, but this is our Achilles heel, the next game after a top result – we haven’t been able to do well in that department so far.
“Eight games left is 24 points up for grabs and we have to get as many as possible.”
