Report and highlights as Aston Villa are held to a goalless draw by struggling Burnley at Villa Park; the home side hit the woodwork twice in the first half; draw sees Sean Dyche's side move out of the Premier League relegation zone
Friday 18 December 2020 10:12, UK
Aston Villa were held to a goalless draw by a resolute Burnley despite dominating for large periods at Villa Park.
Both Villa and Burnley headed into the game on the back of impressive weekend away wins at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal respectively.
However, the home side just could not find a way past a determined Burnley defence, and especially their England goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Villa twice came close to making the breakthrough in the first half, only for Pope to turn Anwar El Ghazi's curling free-kick on to the bar, before Kortney Hause headed against the woodwork from close range.
As a result, Dean Smith's team stay 11th in the Premier League, while the visitors move out of the relegation zone with this point.
Villa dominated most of the match and will wonder how they did not end up with all three points. A combination of brilliant goalkeeping, poor finishing and a well-marshalled Burnley back line was the answer.
Smith will no doubt point to two moments in the first half when his team went desperately close to opening the scoring, but luck was not on their side.
With eight minutes to go until half-time, El Ghazi stepped up to curl a 25-yard free-kick over the wall and seemingly into the top left-hand corner of the net, only for Pope's fingertips to divert the ball on to the bar.
Just before the break, after a right-wing corner was flicked on at the near post, Hause headed against the far post when really the defender should have scored.
Despite controlling most of the second period, the nearest Villa came to scoring was when Tyrone Mings headed wide late on, before Grealish shot just over after one of his trademark solo runs.
Dean Smith: "It was a performance I expected from him [Jack Grealish]. A lot was made out of the week he has had but he was in court for two driving offences, nothing more nothing less and he handled it as I expected him to, with aplomb.
"Jack's performances are what we are accustomed to. We had to make changes and with the way Burnley play we had to be good defensively.
"I'm really pleased with the performance, there are loads of positives to take. We changed 40 per cent of the team and our squad was tested but came through with flying colours. It was a performance worthy of a win.
"I'm not concerned [by not scoring]. My concern is when you're not getting chances. We look like a team unlikely to concede goals as well, when you do that you'll accumulate points."
Sean Dyche: "It wasn't a great result, just a good result. We had to get back to being strong defensively and we have done that.
"In the first half I thought we were in some brilliant moments but we have to tidy up. We have to be more clinical and detailed because we have a base to work from now.
"We have to make it happen rather than wait for it to happen.
"We had a big result at Arsenal [winning 1-0 on Sunday] but doing the basics well has been important to us since we have been in the Premier League.
"Now we have to find the balance of opening the team up enough to make sure we score more goals."
Once again, the twinkle-toed playmaker was easily the best player on the pitch and the one man who seemed capable of creating a goal, or scoring one at Villa Park.
The England international attempted any number of mesmerising dribbles during the game, most of which attracted a posse of Burnley defenders.
But for once, either the Villa skipper's final ball let him down, or when it did not, his team-mates' finishing did.
And then in the final moments, after another jinking run and with just Pope to beat, he could not keep his shot under the bar.
Villa take on Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Sunday night (7.15pm), while Burnley face Wolves at Turf Moor on Monday (5.30pm) in a game you can see live on Sky Sports Premier League.
