Rotherham 2-2 Burnley: Millers hit back twice to earn point

Burnley's champagne remains on ice as they were made to wait for the Sky Bet Championship title after being held to a 2-2 draw at Rotherham.

Quality goals from Scott Twine and Manuel Benson either side of Vitinho's own goal looked to be tightening their grip on the trophy, but Georgie Kelly equalised to earn the Millers a deserved point.

And with Sheffield United winning at home to Bristol City, it meant the celebrations will have to wait until Saturday, where a point against QPR will secure top spot for Vincent Kompany's side.

This could be a vital draw for the Millers in their bid to stay in the division and they moved four points clear of the bottom four with four games remaining.

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With Burnley knowing they needed to better the Blades' result to get over the line, they set about their task early and got on the front foot.

They fired an early warning shot in the fifth minute when Connor Roberts found space at the far post but his shot was straight at Millers goalkeeper Josh Vickers.

Vitinho put a free header wide as the chances kept coming and the breakthrough came in the 26th minute with a moment of real quality.

Roberts was given space on the right to send in a cross that was met with a brilliant first-time controlled volley by Twine, who picked out the corner in style.

Burnley were in total control, with the majority of the action played in the their final third as they pushed for a second which would have surely killed the game.

But they were hit with a sucker-punch in first-half stoppage time as they failed to defend a set-piece, allowing the Millers to steal an equaliser.

Shane Ferguson's deep corner caused chaos and Vitinho got his clearance all wrong, skewing the ball onto Ameen Al-Dakhil and over the line, with referee Bobby Madley awarding the goal with the use of goal-line technology.

Vitinho was officially awarded the own goal, despite Al-Dakhil getting the last touch.

Rotherham's chances appeared to suffer a blow at half-time when Vickers was forced off with an injury, meaning 21-year-old rookie Robbie Hemfrey was introduced for his first ever senior appearance.

It was quite the baptism of fire and his nerves were tested in less than two minutes as he had to get down low to save Johann Berg Gudmundsson's shot.

Things were not going to quieten down for him as Gudmundsson again tested his handling with a shot from distance before having to palm away another Roberts effort.

Rotherham were able to stem the tide, but there was an inevitability about the stunning goal that put Burnley back in front in the 81st minute.

Josh Cullen robbed the ball and fed Benson and he advanced towards goal before unleashing a brilliant curling effort that would have been too good for goalkeepers far more experienced that Hemfrey.

But Rotherham were not done and hit back four minutes later.

A free-kick made its way to Chiedozie Ogbene at the far post and he picked out Kelly who swept home from eight yards to secure an unlikely point.

The managers

Rotherham's Matt Taylor:

"The game had everything. This level and what it does to this group of players never ceases to amaze me. The goalkeeper getting injured in the first half, being unable to take goal-kicks and coming off at half-time, losing Jordan Hugill to injury, going behind twice, the spirit we showed was outstanding and I thought we deserved something. They were the better team, they have better quality players, but I thought we deserved something and it was important we got something to improve that belief.

"They are giving everything, they have done all season, even when we don't look like we are playing well. We need to help them with their bodies and help with more quality, but that spirit was just there for everyone to see. We have to make sure we keep that going into the weekend, find a way to recover and see how the bodies are. If there is anything to get hold of for our fans, it was certainly a performance like that."

Burnley's Vincent Kompany:

"It was very unlikely I was going to come here and talk about a draw after the amount of chances we had. The performance was very good, I was happy with the flow of our game, we kept the game alive, we showed some really, really interesting ways of creating chances.

"I just feel sorry for the lads because they don't reward themselves with a win. The two hardest chances we scored and the more bread and butter ones we missed. I have no complaints about what the outcome is, it still puts us in the same position in terms of what we can achieve on Saturday, but I feel bad for the lads because normally when you create chances like this you give yourselves the chance of three points."

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