Burnley vs. Tottenham Hotspur: Score, Grades, Reaction from Premier League
Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur shared the points following a scoreless draw in a dull Premier League match at Turf Moor on Easter Sunday.
Neither team will be fully satisfied with the point as Burnley seek to avoid relegation and Spurs keep up the chase in their increasingly unlikely bid for a top-four finish.
Burnley had perhaps the best chance of the match in the fifth minute when Danny Ings found space behind the defence but shot straight at Michel Vorm.
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The draw moved Burnley up one place to 18th with 26 points through 31 matches. With seven games left in the campaign, Sean Dyche's side are level with 17th-placed Sunderland in the race to avoid relegation, but the Clarets remain in the drop zone on goal differential pending the outcome of Sunderland's match against rivals Newcastle later on Sunday.
Up next for Burnley is a daunting match versus Arsenal next Saturday. The Gunners are the Premier League's hottest team, having won their last seven matches, and securing a result will be a tough task for Dyche's men.
Tottenham, meanwhile, moved up one place to sixth and are now level on 54 points with Liverpool. Mauricio Pochettino's side remain seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand. In order to finish in the top four, Spurs likely will have to win most—if not all—of their seven matches left, and up next is a home match against Aston Villa next Saturday.
Harry Kane, who is in the midst of a breakout campaign with 19 league goals, served as captain for the day for Spurs. Vorm came in for injured goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, while centre-back Jan Vertonghen missed out with an illness.
The first half was a largely drab affair, with the pace slow and chances scarce. Burnley generated the first chance in the fifth minute as Ings ran onto the ball following a giveaway by Ryan Mason. Under pressure from Nabil Bentaleb, the Burnley man fired straight at Vorm, who saved.
At the other end, Tottenham's Nacer Chadli tested Tom Heaton with a shot from the edge of the box, prompting a save from the Burnley goalkeeper.
In the 21st minute, Burnley's Ashley Barnes broke free from his marker and latched onto a free-kick, volleying a cross into the middle from an acute angle on the right. It was a promising opportunity, but no attackers from the home side were able to reach the ball and turn it in.
In the 36th minute, Kane dragged a speculative shot well wide of the target. Four minutes later, Heaton saved Christian Eriksen's curling shot from the edge of the box.
The final chance of the first half fell to Burnley, with Ings placing a curler on target in the 45th minute. Vorm tipped the ball over the bar.
The match improved somewhat after the break, but goals were still hard to find. In the 49th minute, Kane fired over the bar following good work by Spurs in the final third, but the England international was offside regardless.
In the 58th minute, Vorm had to be alert to tip an Ings cross over the bar, with the ball seemingly set to sneak in under the bar. Nine minutes later, Eriksen worked free on the right but blasted over the bar from the edge of the box.
Tottenham produced a comical miss in the 72nd minute when Paulinho badly mishit a shot well off target, bringing an unfortunate end to a promising counter.
Burnley had one more chance in stoppage time as Tottenham failed to clear their box following a throw-in. The ball fell to Boyd, who headed wide of the target.
Grades
| Tom Heaton | 7.0 |
| Kieran Trippier | 8.0 |
| Michael Duff | 7.5 |
| Jason Shackell | 6.9 |
| Ben Mee | 6.4 |
| George Boyd | 7.5 |
| Scott Arfield | 7.2 |
| David Jones | 6.6 |
| Ashley Barnes | 7.6 |
| Danny Ings | 6.6 |
| Sam Vokes | 7.1 |
| Lukas Jutkiewicz (for Vokes 76') | 6.1 |
| Michel Vorm | 7.4 |
| Kyle Walker | 6.6 |
| Eric Dier | 8.1 |
| Vlad Chiriches | 7.8 |
| Danny Rose | 7.3 |
| Ryan Mason | 6.5 |
| Nabil Bentaleb | 7.5 |
| Christian Eriksen | 6.7 |
| Paulinho | 6.6 |
| Nacer Chadli | 6.7 |
| Harry Kane | 7.0 |
| Ben Davies (for Walker 47') | 6.7 |
| Erik Lamela (for Chadli 64') | 6.3 |
| Andros Townsend (for Mason 83') | 6.0 |
Reaction
Burnley defender Michael Duff, via PA Sport (h/t ESPN FC):
"I think as a team we handled him (Kane) well. We pressed them high up the pitch and you could see that many many times. It's something we pride ourselves on. We haven't got the multi-million-pound superstars that maybe some teams have in this league or the budget to go with it but we work hard and you can see the fans appreciate that.
…
We just keep taking it a game at a time. It's another marker and another point in the right direction. It's a tough league and at times it's hard to get points so we'll take anything we can get.
"
Burnley defender Jason Shackell, via PA Sport (h/t ESPN FC):
"I thought we played well today and we had a few chances. We need to be a bit more clinical between now and the end of the season but it's another point and that's a point in the right direction.
If he (Ings) had put the ball in the back of the net of course it would have been different but he's been phenomenal and will get a few more goals for us before the end of the season for sure.
"
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