Brighton 0-0 Burnley: Danny Welbeck squanders chances on first start in dull stalemate

Report and highlights as Danny Welbeck looked lively on first start for Brighton but lacked ruthlessness in front of goal; Burnley remain winless this season

Lewis Jones

@_LJones_

Saturday 7 November 2020 07:00, UK

Brighton missed the opportunity to register a first home win of the season as Danny Welbeck squandered chances in a 0-0 draw with Burnley.

It was a familiar tale for Graham Potter and his Brighton side, who bossed large parts of the game and had 19 shots on goal but lacked the clinical finish.

Welbeck - on his first start for the club - was denied twice in the first half by Nick Pope while Neal Maupay, who returned to the side after being dropped for the defeat at Tottenham for "crossing a line" according to Potter, was subdued by Ben Mee and James Tarkowski.

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The result leaves Burnley, whose only shot on target came after 14 minutes, remaining winless this season with only one goal scored from open play in their seven Premier League matches.

How Burnley stifled Seagulls

Burnley's worst-ever start to a league season nearly got worse after 37 seconds. The returning Mee, on his first start of the season, slipped on the turf which allowed Welbeck to set up Tariq Lamptey from 10 yards but the full-back lacked the required conviction as he spooned an effort over the bar.

The visitors' best moment of the half came via an overhit cross from Matt Lowton on four minutes looped over Mat Ryan but came crashing back off the crossbar and to safety.

Burnley did a good job of pressing Brighton in the early stages but once the home side found their rhythm, it was one-way traffic towards Pope's goal.

Welbeck should have scored on 34 minutes when zipping through one on one with Pope but the England goalkeeper made a fine block. It was one of 12 shots Brighton had in the first 45 minutes, the most the Seagulls have had in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League game.

Albion continued to have the better of the play in the second period.

Maupay fired straight at Pope from the edge of the box when he could have played in Welbeck - the only dangerous shot the Frenchman managed in the game.

Burnley produced a series of crucial blocks as the half wore on, including full-back Charlie Taylor superbly denying Lamptey and a bout of cramp on his return wasn't enough to stop the excellent Mee leading his side to a deserved clean sheet.

Man of the match: Adam Lallana

The former Liverpool man has settled quickly back to life on the south coast with his tricky dribbling and clever passing making it easy for him to slot into the way Potter wants to play. His positioning just off the left was really difficult for Burnley to get to grips with. He made three key passes and on another day he may have had one or two assists to his name if his teammates had their finishing boots on.

What the managers said

Brighton boss Graham Potter said: "It was really positive and I am really happy with a lot of performances. I thought we restricted Burnley to not to too much at all and had opportunities ourselves.

"We pushed and pushed and tried everything.There was personality on the pitch and good intent, just the only thing missing was a goal.

"But I cannot fault the players in terms of what they did, what they gave in terms of effort. We were disappointed with just one point, but that is football we will stick together, move forward and look forward to the next one."

Opta stats

Brighton fired in 19 shots against Burnley - the most by any side without managing to score in any Premier League match this season so far.
Burnley's tally of two points is their joint-lowest after their first seven league games of a season in their history (W0 D2 L5), along with 1977-78 in the second tier (assuming three points for a win all-time).
Since they were promoted to the Premier League in 2017, Brighton have played out more goalless draws in the competition than any other side (12), while Burnley are also second for most top-flight nil-nils in this time (11).
Brighton have picked up six points in their eight Premier League games this season (W1 D3 L4), their lowest tally after their first eight matches of a league campaign since 2002-03 (four), when they were eventually relegated from the second tier.
Burnley have failed to score in four consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since May 2015 (six in a row).