Burnley 0 – 0 S’land

Burnley saw their promotion charge slowed somewhat on Friday night, as Sunderland produced an impressive performance to hold the runaway Championship leaders to a 0-0 draw at Turf Moor.

The Clarets displayed their usual dominance on the ball, but could only muster three shots on target against their resolute opponents, with their best two openings falling for Ashley Barnes and Josh Brownhill just before the break.

In contrast, Sunderland came close to taking all three points on two occasions in the second half, with Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo’s deflected shot striking the bar and Abdoullah Ba’s connection on Jack Clarke’s delivery crossing the line before being ruled out for offside in the build-up.

With Vincent Kompany’s men now 14 points ahead of Sheffield United with seven games left to play, the result seemingly only serves to delay their inevitable title triumph.

Sunderland, meanwhile, remain in with an outside chance of reaching the play-offs. They stay 11th, six points outside the top six ahead of the remainder of the weekend’s action.

How Burnley were frustrated on home soil

Burnley showed few early signs of any lasting effect caused by their heavy 6-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup last time out, as they controlled possession throughout the first half on their return home after the international break

For much of it, though, while that control was as impressive as it has been throughout the season, the Clarets lacked a certain pizzazz going forward, while Sunderland deserved credit for allowing the in-form Nathan Tella to have just six touches of the ball in the first half-hour.

It was only in the closing stages of the first half that Barnes caressed a shot narrowly over and Brownhill’s effort was bravely blocked by Lynden Gooch. At the other end, Pierre Ekwah sent a scuffed volley wide and Patrick Roberts forced Aro Muric to tip his shot round the post after a rapid counter.

The second half followed much the same pattern as the first until, with just over 20 minutes to play, Roberts controversially avoided the offside flag and found Diallo, whose deflected shot looped over the stricken Muric and hit the crossbar before being cleared.

There were hearts in mouths 15 minutes later, too, when Ba cleverly helped Clarke’s square ball from the left into the far corner of the net. Fortunately for the increasingly frustrated home fans, it was quickly chalked off, as the game ended goalless.

Player of the match – Lynden Gooch

The managers

Burnley’s Vincent Kompany:

“It was a fairly even game. If you count on the basis of chances, I’d say maybe we had more of the bigger chances; we didn’t create a massive amount, but the chances we had were really big. Sunderland had one or two big chances and that was it. The game was played in midfield, I thought. Both teams were solid defensively, both teams worked their way into the opposition half and it was just a difficult night for the strikers today.

“In the end, Sunderland were good. They have been good this season and I’m sure somewhere we’ll think it was a good point, but I’m not there yet.”

Sunderland’s Tony Mowbray:

“We knew how they play; they are a really talented team. They’ve got a head coach who has learned from the best in the world and you either sit off them all game, allow them to pass it around and eventually they pick you off and they score or you play on the front foot, you be aggressive, try and win it up high and see whether you can score.

“Amazing discipline from our team today. I thought we gave them lots of problems as they tried to play through us, we frustrated them. I thought it was a good game of football and I thought we competed in it very well.”

What’s next?

Both teams are next in action on Good Friday, April 7. Sunderland host Hull at the Stadium of Light at 5.30pm, while Burnley face Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium at 8pm.

Both matches will be available to watch live on Sky Sports Football.