Burnley 0-0 Derby: Paul Warne's Rams battle for point at Turf Moor

Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Burnley and Derby County at Turf Moor on Tuesday night; Paul Warne's Rams hold off Scott Parker's promotion-chasing Clarets to earn goalless draw.

Tuesday 10 December 2024 23:05, UK

Burnley were frustrated by a rejected first-half penalty appeal as they were held to a goalless Championship draw by a stubborn Derby side at Turf Moor.

The home side, seeking to put pressure on Sheffield United and Leeds at the top of the table, were convinced that defender Nat Phillips handled Josh Brownhill's cross-shot in the 33rd minute.

Brownhill had been teed up by Jeremy Sarmiento after a Callum Elder's poor clearance had put the visitors under pressure, with Phillips claiming the shot had come off his shoulder as referee Andy Davies ignored Burnley protests.

Derby's point ended a run of three-straight league defeats and perhaps eased some of the pressure on head coach Paul Warne, whose side have now gone six matches without victory.

They might have inflicted Burnley's first home defeat of the season, but Jerry Yates failed to take a clear double chance 10 minutes into the second half after being played in by midfielder Kenzo Goudmijn, with his first shot kept out by goalkeeper James Trafford and his second, from a tight angle, finding the side-netting.

Burnley - whose run of four-straight victories had ended with a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough last Friday - created several promising moments during the first half.

Sarmiento was their chief threat during the early stages, bursting forward after turning away from Luke Thompson near the halfway line and feeding Brownhill, whose attempt to catch out Jacob Widell Zetterstrom by taking the shot early was thwarted as the Swedish goalkeeper clawed the ball aside.

Sarmiento was unlucky not to get reward after exchanging passes with Connor Roberts and smashing a first-time shot that flew just wide off the unwitting Brownhill.

Burnley centre-back Bashir Humphreys, on loan from Chelsea, got free of Derby's defenders to glance well wide from a Lucas Pires corner as the home side continued to press, shortly before the penalty appeal against Phillips that went unheeded.

Derby, having failed to register a shot on target in the first half, were more of a threat in the second - and had Yates been more ruthless in front of goal, they would have led.

Burnley winger Luca Koleosho, who was brought on as a substitute with 21 minutes to play, made an immediate impact as he was sent through by Sarmiento, but Widell Zetterstrom timed his advance from his line just right to block.

The goalkeeper was in the right place again to gather Sarmiento's flicked header from a Roberts ball in.

Luke Thompson went close for Derby in the final 15 minutes, controlling and lashing a dipping shot just over after Maxime Esteve had headed out Elder's left-wing cross, while substitute Marcus Harness rolled a 20-yard shot narrowly wide in injury time.

The managers

Burnley's Scott Parker:

"I can't fault my players for endeavour. If anything, they're trying too hard. They're making decisions that are wrong out of pure desperation to try to score a goal and try to win the game - it's naive on our behalf.

"It may just be the fact it's a young group, some of whom have not experienced this. This is a rollercoaster of a Championship and for sure we need to get a little bit better at it.

"We're gutted really. We're disappointed tonight. We came here with one aim - to win the game - and we just fell a little bit short. Credit to Derby, they've come here and done a really good job.

"We just lacked a little bit in the final third in certain moments of our decision making. You get one goal and maybe the game opens up, but we fell a little bit short on that really.

"We had some good opportunities in the first half when the game was open. You get a goal then and maybe the game looks a little bit different.

"But the longer the game goes on, the anxiety around the stadium reflected that on the pitch for us and we start making poor decisions out of pure desperation."

Derby's Paul Warne:

"I'm very proud of a group of people who've had one day to work on a gameplan to come to a very difficult place with a really good group of players and they've worked extremely hard.

"We knew right from the start that this was probably going to be the hardest week of the season. In fairness to everybody who works at the club - and especially the players - it's quite a positive night.

"I'm not going to sit here and say that we limited Burnley to very little, particularly early on, because they're a very good side who had opportunities. But I thought we defended really well. I thought we grew into the game.

"On a different day, we could have ended up nicking something, but the pleasing thing for me is the spirit and ability of the players to work as hard as they did proves how good a group this is - and how hard they want to work for the football club."