Match Review – Brighton 0-0 Burnley
All I want for Christmas is a Brighton goal. Nine and a half hours it is now since the Albion last scored from open play when Jose Izquierdo notched against Stoke City.
High flying Burnley came and left the Amex with a clean sheet and a point in a 0-0 draw. While at the start of the season, not beating Burnley at home would have been a disappointing result, some context is needed. The Clarets are above Spurs in the league and boast the third best away record in the division after Manchester City and Chelsea.
And the Albion did everything but score against Sean Dyche’s side. Every game we play, not signing that striker in the summer looks more and more like a huge cock up, despite what Paul Barber and the players said in their social media posts to supporters that none of us should panic.
The most glaring chance came when Glenn Murray sent a penalty over the bar after he’d been fouled by James Tarkowski. Pre-Amex Albion fans won’t have been surprised by this; back in League One, Murray, Elliott Bennett and Chris Wood seemed to have an ongoing competition over who could miss the most penalties. They were so bad at them that Gus Poyet used to hide behind the Withdean dugout whenever one was awarded rather than watch.
There were other chances too. Anthony Knockaert hit the post with a volley and Lewis Dunk had a header cleared off the line by Phil Bardsley. The Albion should’ve had another penalty when Tarkowski tried to remove one of Murray’s ribs with his elbow but the referee missed it.
Not scoring in that best first performance of the season left the looming feeling that the inevitable would happen and Burnley would nick one at the other end. Especially with a trio of former Brighton strikers available in Wood, Sam Vokes and Ashley Barnes. It was refreshing to see Barnes has lost none of his IQ of 7 since moving north with a brain dead foul to pick up a booking within four minutes of coming on.
That they didn’t inflict the inevitable was due to Maty Ryan. We can add “goalkeepers who pull off outrageous double saves” to the list of Australian exports along with fast bowling attacks that send the shits up everyone and must see daytime soaps as Ryan added yet another to his collection, this time from Scott Arfield. He also denied Wood from close range.
Chris Hughton’s substitutions again came under the spotlight. Izzy Brown was poor when he came on, Anthony Knockaert was replaced when even Stevie Wonder could see that Solly March was being about as useful as a pair of sunglasses for a bloke with one ear and José Izquierdo is unlikely to be receiving an Oscar nomination anytime soon if his attempts to win a penalty are anything to go by.
There will be at least one change to the starting line up against Watford next week with Shane Duffy now suspended for picking up his fifth booking of the season. The handball was fantastic as, in the 90th minute, Duffy completely misjudged a bouncing ball and decided to volleyball spike it away with his hand. That will hand Connor Goldson his first appearance in the Premier League, a remarkable achievement given all he has been through in the last couple of years.
It says a lot that an Albion goal at the moment would seem nearly as remarkable as a player returning from major heart surgery to play in the top flight. Goldson will do that next week – it would be a good time then for the Albion to pull off their own Christmas miracle.
