Chelsea missed an opportunity to go third in the Premier League in an entertaining 2-2 draw against Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
Maurizio Sarri's men were hoping to bounce back from a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in their previous top-flight outing but they dropped points once again and could be facing key games against Manchester United and Eintracht Frankfurt without Kante.
Burnley – still yet to confirm their survival – went ahead through Jeff Hendrick early on, and although Kante and Gonzalo Higuain saw Chelsea turn things around in the space of two minutes, Ashley Barnes pegged them back in an enthralling first half.
Chelsea did much of the attacking after the interval but Sarri – who was removed from the sidelines in stoppage time – saw his side fail to make the most of top-four rivals Tottenham, Arsenal and United losing at the weekend.
Having lost Hudson-Odoi late in the first half to an apparent shin problem, Kante was unable to come out for the second period due to a reported back injury.
Chelsea still looked cohesive going forward and nearly retook the lead in the 51st minute, but Tom Heaton thwarted Higuain – who reacted furiously when he was replaced by Olivier Giroud in the 77th minute.
As he returned to the bench and sat down with the rest of his team-mates, Higuain exploded in frustration.
He first picked up the bib that was given to him and threw it to one side while appearing to gesture to someone on the touchline.
Still venting his fury, Higuain then picked up a water bottle and launched it down on the floor.
He then slumped forward in his seat to remove his sock tape and shin pads before watching the rest of the action from the bench. Watch Gonzalo Higuain's furious reaction to being substituted as Chelsea painfully drew with Burnley from Cyprian, Is Nyakundi on Vimeo .
The hosts piled the pressure on towards the end but failed to craft any further opportunities and Sarri's late ejection for dissent and a fracas after the final whistle – which was met with boos – summed up Chelsea's day.