.png)
1 week ago
18
For generations to come in Lancashire and Yorkshire thousands will tell people “I was there” to see the match where the least action in the history of football took place. Burnley and Leeds are supposed to be fighting for promotion but they produced a solitary shot on target between them in a desperate goalless draw.
Third-placed Burnley collected their seventh clean sheet in a row in the Championship, while Leeds moved a further point clear at the top of the table. Arguably the result suited both parties but arduous viewing on an extremely cold night at Turf Moor.
When the best defence in the league comes up against the most prolific attack, the style of the fixture is somewhat predictable. Burnley were happy to absorb pressure and try to break when the opportunity arose, while Leeds were more proactive in their outlook, desperate to test a team that had conceded nine goals in 28 games prior to kick-off.
There was plenty in the way of examination from Leeds’ front four as they buzzed around the final third looking to find a gap. They pressurised the Burnley backline but they stood up to it and James Trafford was not called into action in the early stages. The goalkeeper’s first notable involvement was highlighting the conditions when a goal-kick was taken by the wind straight to his opposite number, Illan Meslier.
Burnley had scored once in their previous four games before thrashing Plymouth 5-0 in midweek. They had reverted to type and had no obvious plan of how to break through Leeds, relying on their wide players but their efforts were unrewarded as the central striker, Zian Flemming, is normally a winger and was unable to compete aerially, allowing the visitors to clear with ease.
Scott Parker’s ultra-conservatism is a tough watch, providing some of the least attractive and attacking football seen by a team aiming for promotion to the Premier League. There are quality players available to him in forward positions but they do not get to shine, making this push for the top flight a grind. He and the Burnley fans will only find out in May if his methods are justified.
By the time 45 minutes had elapsed, neither side had mustered a shot on target. Clearly there was tension in a game that neither wanted to contemplate losing and that was affecting the quality on offer at Turf Moor, made more miserable by swirling winds and freezing rain.
Burnley continued to pass the ball backwards and sideways, earning some ire from the home fans. The Clarets have dropped too many points at home for their supporters’ liking. QPR, Derby and Stoke are among the teams to have left Turf Moor with a goalless draw in matches a team aiming for the Premier League should be winning with ease.
The defensive discipline is impressive and it ensured Leeds made limited progress, coming against a packed midfield and back four that offer little room from which to operate. The hour mark ticked by and still neither goalkeeper had needed to wake from their slumber as shots were not on the menu.
after newsletter promotion
There was a flash point to wake up the others who might have resorted to finding alternative viewing with their eyelids closed when Daniel James stopped a Burnley counterattack with a crude challenge on CJ Egan-Riley. The Leeds man was rightly booked after being surrounded by claret shirts keen on retribution.
Daniel Farke was the first coach to attempt to liven up proceedings by sending on attackers Largie Ramazani and Mateo Joseph. Parker did similar with Jeremy Sarmiento coming on Lyle Foster, who had spent most of the night tracking back rather than going forward as a winger normally should.
The first shot on target came in the 89th minute when James saw his rising effort from inside the box easily tipped over by Trafford. The kindest thing to say is that it was a hard-fought point for each team because there were certainly no winners.
