Burnley 0 West Ham 0
Despite Barcelona’s fall from grace, this will probably not be enough to induce feelings of panic at the Camp Nou. West Ham supporters, anticipating the prospect of a prize scalp in the Europa League draw, chorused: “Barcelona, we’re coming for you.” Forget Barcelona, West Ham may rue their inability to beat Burnley. For a side with a genuine chance of a top-four finish, it felt a case of two points dropped.
Sean Dyche’s bland team put the stale into the stalemate while David Moyes cut an increasingly frustrated figure, irritated at his side’s inability to forge a breakthrough. West Ham have flagship wins over Liverpool and a Chelsea but a failure to beat Brentford, Brighton and now Burnley threatens to prove more telling for a club of their lofty aspirations.
Under other circumstances, a first top-flight clean sheet at Turf Moor since 1928 might have felt more of an achievement for a team burdened by defensive injuries, especially as Lukasz Fabianski only had to field one, tame attempt on target. If a couple of terrific saves by Nick Pope and some defiant defending secured Burnley’s shutout, in itself a rarity for them this season, West Ham offered too little excitement. It was as though their reserves of inspiration were exhausted against Chelsea last week.
Declan Rice felt the lone exception. A player on a different level to most of his team-mates and all of his opponents made a series of driving runs and threatened a winner with a spectacular late shot. The watching Steven Gerrard may have recognised the sight of a midfielder capable of grabbing a game by the scruff of its neck.
Another spectator was given much to consider. Gareth Southgate has omitted Pope from recent squads, but the goalkeeper reacted brilliantly to keep out Issa Diop’s header, courtesy of Jarrod Bowen’s free kick. If that showed the speed of his reactions, Pope illustrated his athleticism by parrying Saïd Benrahma’s header. Include an injury-time save from Bowen and a painful occasion for him, when he was bloodied by Craig Dawson’s boot, was a triumphant one.
But West Ham occupied Pope too rarely. Fresh from his freakish winner against Chelsea, Arthur Masuaku almost scored in more deliberate fashion, connecting sweetly with a volley that went just wide. In the second half, Benrahma and Michail Antonio fired wide from distance but the striker has now gone eight games without a goal.
Goal droughts are more common among the Burnley players, however. They were poor in possession, lacking fluency or creativity. Relying on Maxwel Cornet to score wonder goals rarely felt a sustainable formula, even before injury ruled him out here.
With Dyche fielding a midfield who lack a goal between them this season, there was an added importance to defenders’ efforts from set-pieces. James Tarkowski leapt highest to meet Dwight McNeil’s corner but headed over. Meanwhile, Jay Rodriguez looped a header wide and had a half-volley deflected wide by Dawson, but the striker has a solitary goal in his last 46 league games.
Dawson was at the heart of the lone flashpoint. Burnley were reprieved when McNeil tripped Dawson in the box. Referee Graham Scott did not award the penalty; the greater surprise was that Jonathan Moss, the VAR, did not either. Perhaps he concluded that Dawson sought the contact; perhaps he simply deemed that officiating Manchester City versus Wolves gave him enough experience of awarding contentious penalties for one weekend. - Guardian
