Burnley 1-1 Brighton. A calamitous own goal by goalkeeper Arijanet Muric prevented Burnley from securing a vital Premier League win over Brighton at Turf Moor.
One week after the Kosovan’s mistake handed Everton a 1-0 victory over Vincent Kompany’s side, Muric allowed a simple backpass from his team-mate Sander Berge to roll under his heel and into the net.
Josh Brownhill had given Burnley’s chances of Premier League survival a glimmer of hope on 74 minutes when he nipped in to take advantage of a short backpass from Carlos Baleba and the ball cannoned in off the side of keeper Bart Verbruggen to give the home side the lead.
But just five minutes later Muric’s error levelled proceedings and Burnley could not restore their advantage to take all three points.
The result leaves Brighton 10th in the Premier League while Burnley are still firmly rooted in the relegation zone, six points from safety.
In a game of few chances, Burnley had the better of them in the opening 45 minutes as Jacob Bruun Larsen missed a tap-in at the back post from five yards before David Datro Fofana could not connect with a brilliant Wilson Odobert pass to slide home.
The home side were denied an early penalty after a clumsy foul by Pervis Estupinan on Odobert but were ultimately left to rue their missed chances.
Burnley boss Vincent Kompany was absent from the dugout after receiving a one-match ban for a red card at Chelsea last month, with assistant coach Craig Bellamy taking charge.
Kompany has often talked this season about his side playing better than their opponents, but those good performances mean nothing if not reflected in results.
Burnley have lost a club-record 11 of their 17 Premier League home matches this season and failed to score in 12 of their 33 league games – the most of any team in the top flight.
After two glorious chances in the first half Jay Rodriguez also went close in the second period and defensively Burnley were solid.
But, leading games before capitulating through needless errors has been the story of their season – 24 points dropped from leading positions evidence of that.
They will see this as two points lost rather than one gained with tough games against Manchester United and Tottenham on the horizon.
As things stand, a point is likely not enough to give Burnley any real hopes of survival and the crestfallen reaction of their players at full-time suggested they also thought that to be the case.
The result will hurt more given Brighton were not at their best at Turf Moor and recent results suggest the Seagulls’ season is at risk of petering out.
They did improve in the second half, pressing with more intensity as Pascal Gross saw an effort tipped over the bar and Joao Pedro headed just wide from a corner.
But, having qualified for Europe for the first time in their history last season, they have now secured just six victories in their past 26 league games and another season of playing on the continent is starting to look unlikely.
Manager Roberto de Zerbi was already without nine first-team players and his list of casualties could be extended to 10 after Estupinan had to be replaced early in the first half having sustained an apparent ankle injury off the ball.
The Italian’s side have picked up just two points from their past four games and it seems the addition of European football to their schedule has proved a step too far this campaign.
source – BBC
