Burnley 0-0 Sunderland – Match Report

Sunderland put in a battling display to grind out a 0-0 draw against league leaders Burnley on Friday night.

The goalless draw was the first time Burnley failed to score at home since they played Manchester City in April 2022, as Tony Mowbray slightly delayed Vincent Kompany’s inevitable promotion ambitions.

Sunderland’s 22-game run of scoring in every match also came to an end.

The Black Cats’ eight-man injury list meant Pierre Ekwah was handed his first start, with Lynden Gooch filling in at left-back and Alex Pritchard also starting.

For the Clarets, Taylor Harwood-Bellis started his first game in three months, with Josh Brownhill and Manuel Benson also returning from injury.

Burnley dominated possession in the opening stages, but Sunderland were resolute at the back.

Anthony Patterson was called into action when a Burnley corner found its way to Harwood-Bellis, who forced the keeper into a reactionary save.

Burnley had a penalty shout when Nathan Tella skipped past Dan Neil and fell over, but the referee correctly decided that there was no contact.

A smart pass from Brownhill set Barnes through on goal, but he skied the shot well over the bar for a huge miss.

Just before half time, it took some heroic defending from Lynden Gooch to block Brownhill’s shot after some good work on the right wing from Anass Zaroury.

Later, Patrick Roberts released Amad; his shot was deflected but with Muric helpless, it bounced back off the crossbar.

An ingenious corner routine from Jack Clarke and Amad led to Clarke’s shot finding the back of the net, but Abdoullah Ba was adjudged to be interfering with play from an offside position.

The full time whistle was blown after six minutes of added time – leaving Burnley top of the league by 14 points and Sunderland sitting in 11th, six points away from the play-off positions.