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Perhaps it was inevitable that a game broadcast by Sky Sports Box Office would yield the Premier League’s first goalless draw this season. The match, available to watch on a pay-per-view channel, may not have lived up to its teatime. billing, but Nick Pope made a series of excellent saves to prevent West Brom from scoring his first win of the season and helping Burnley stop the rot and claim his first point of the season. Karlan Grant also had a debut goal disallowed after straying offside.
This wasn’t a box office hit, but Slaven Bilic was reasonably lighthearted afterward, encouraged by the way his team put their stamp on the game after persisting with a three-man midfield, handing Chelsea loan officer Conor Gallagher his debut. in the Premier League and Grant his first start since a protracted £ 15 million move. But having leaked goals – West Brom had conceded 13 in their first four games – it was at the other end that Bilic made wholesale changes, with the astute 36-year-old Branislav Ivanovic joining Ahmed Hegazi on defense. If supporters, like Bilic, were encouraged by a much-improved performance, West Brom’s next two games, trips to Brighton and then Fulham, on consecutive Mondays and both £ 14.95 via PPV represent a kick in the teeth. . “I think soccer should be affordable,” Bilic said. “He always said that soccer is not polo, soccer is not golf, soccer is a mass sport. It’s a working-class sport and it should be affordable for everyone. “
When it comes to finances, Burnley’s board has a reputation for being frugal and, while Sean Dyche, whose only major signing at the close of the season was a £ 1.5m deal for Dale Stephens, who fell in the hierarchical order in Brighton, he was unable to draw on new recruits, his main threat was once again the superb Dwight McNeil, a direct runner who kept the West Brom defense on their toes. He showed big feet to get away from Jake Livermore midway through, but his delicious ball through the six-yard box received no response. However, Dyche adopted an equally optimistic tone. “We’re starting to look back at where we want to be,” said the Burnley manager. “We will move forward with the challenge.”
Bilic lamented his team’s lack of aggression last time, reminded his players that they are not in school but in the middle of relentless competition, but the West Brom coach will be pleased with your request here. Grant was a live wire and if the former Huddersfield striker hadn’t hesitated when Matheus Pereira ran through him, he seemed afraid of the offside flag, he would have hit a cleaner shot. Grant was agonized on the brink of halftime when the assistant referee raised the flag after the forward nodded on a cross from Grady Diangana. “It put a smile on my face,” Bilic said of Grant. “It will be extremely important and that is why we wanted it.”
Burnley had Pope to thank for a series of good saves approaching the hour mark. Diangana shot away from Johann Berg Gudmundsson at the baseline before folding a right-leg shot into the far corner, which Pope pushed to safety. But there was a scrambled goal scoop, culminating in Ivanovic firing the ball at the mighty James Tarkowski before Pereira took aim as the ball jumped in his favor. Pope nailed Pereira’s shot to safety and then climbed on the ball after Ivanovic tried to reach the rebound.
That furry episode seemed to bring out the best in Burnley, who twice came close on the other end. First Chris Wood, the former West Brom forward, sent a header that hit the crossbar after finding a wonderful cross from Ashley Westwood and then Sam Johnstone tried to get past Pope, flying to his right to prevent Ashley Barnes’ header from finding the part. higher. corner. An offside by Wood then led the rebound off the wood, causing the forward to roar in frustration. “It will come, it will come,” Pope urged from the opposite end. But that elusive goal never came.
