Gudmundsson ends barren spell without a goal to earn
Burnley a point at home to Brighton and create eight-point cushion above the
drop zone.
Turf Moor played host to a 1 all draw in front of the Sky Sports
cameras as neither Burnley nor Brighton were able to forge a win in Saturday’s 3
o’clock kick-off. However, it was perhaps a result that suited all parties with
both sides establishing considerable distance between themselves and the bottom
three.
Lewis Dunk struck first for Brighton before Johann Berg Gudmundsson
cancelled out their lead to level the scores in the second half.
The Clarets showed greater attacking intent in the early stages
going close through James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil. Tarkowski was unable to
adjust his feet at the back post when Ashley Westwood’s corner was helped on by
Matej Vydra and Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez reacted quickly to nullify
the danger.
McNeil then tried to deceive Sanchez as he attempted to bend
his freekick in between the post from an awkward angle but the Spanish stopper
was aware of his intentions and palmed the ball behind.
Brighton capitalised on Burnley’s missed opportunities from
Pascal Gross’s corner which Dunk steered beyond Nick Pope on the 36th-minute mark to give Graham Potter’s side
even more cause for celebration off the back of their 1-0 victory at Anfield in
midweek.
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| Laurence Griffiths gettyimages |
Hungry for a second goal
Seagulls striker Aaron Connolly unleashed a venomous strike from 25 yards out
forcing Pope to get a strong hand to the ball and concede a corner.
McNeil was involved in the last action of the first half firing
straight at the gloves of the Brighton number one in added time meaning both
keepers went in at the break having had a busy afternoon thus far.
Brighton’s quest for a fourth successive clean sheet was
ended eight minutes into the second half through Johann Berg Gudmundsson who scored
for the first time in 18 months. Gudmundsson steadied himself by taking a touch
before blasting the ball over the line after Erik Pieters’ piledriver was
punched in his direction.
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| Clive Brunskill gettyimages |
Ashley Barnes was ecstatic as he saw his header ripple the
back of the net from Gudmundsson’s cross moments later only for the linesman to
raise his flag up for offside and Barnes soon cut a dejected figure.
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| Clive Brunskill gettyimages |
Sean Dyche opted for Vydra to partner Barnes up front and
the 28-year-old looked eager to impress his manager in the absence of regular
starter Chris Wood.
The Czech Republic international would have done his future
chances no harm should he have converted Westwood’s one-touch layoff, but
Sanchez thwarted his toke poked effort to ensure both teams went home with a
point.
Dyche came away from the game perplexed at the fact that
they were unable to get the result over the line but was pleased with how his
side took the game to Brighton after going behind:
“I don’t want to cry because there’s other games you get
something from and maybe you could argue you don’t deserve it but here I
thought it was a head‑scratcher that we didn’t
get all three points with the performance like that. It’s
not always how many chances you create, it’s the quality but I think there was
both.”
Graham Potter took positives from the fact that the seagulls
were able to extend their unbeaten run to 5 games by withstanding the threat
that Burnley posed to their backline:
“Burnley put us under an incredible amount of pressure in
the second half, lesser teams would have gone under but we didn’t, we got a
point and we’re delighted.”
Sources:
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1485372/Preview/England-Premier-League-2020-2021-Burnley-Brighton
https://www.skysports.com/football/burnley-vs-brighton/preview/429058
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