Burnley 1-1 Nottingham Forest: Clarets gain valuable point after topsy-turvy contest
Burnley got a valuable point on the board with a full-bloodied draw against Nottingham Forest.
The Clarets had to come from behind after conceding as early as the second minute, with Neco Williams firing home via the aid of a deflection.
But Scott Parker’s side levelled through Jaidon Anthony, who continued his fine start to the season with his third of the campaign.
Burnley could easily have gone on to win the game and certainly had the chances to do so, but Ange Postecoglou’s side also ended the match strongly - with the hosts reliant on a string of fine Martin Dubravka saves.
All in all, the Clarets will be pleased to come away with a point, having suffered back-to-back defeats to Manchester United and Liverpool courtesy of late penalty heartache.
Parker made an enforced change to his starting XI, with Florentino Luis replacing the suspended Lesley Ugochukwu.
It was a first start for the midfielder, who impressed on debut off the bench against Liverpool last week.
The Clarets were otherwise unchanged, with Jacob Bruun Larsen missing out for the second game running with a sore heel. The winger picked up the issue while away on international duty with Denmark.
Jordan Beyer, Connor Roberts and Zeki Amdouni all remain injured, while Axel Tuanzebe continues to miss out. Ashley Barnes took the place on the bench vacated by Luis.
As for Forest, ex-Aston Villa man Douglas Luiz made his debut while former Claret Chris Wood continued in attack. Ange Postecoglou made three changes to the side that were beaten 3-0 at Arsenal last week.
Burnley had barely had a touch of the ball by the time Forest slammed home an early opener, as the hosts made a nightmare start to the game.
A Douglas Luiz corner failed to be cleared, falling nicely for Neco Williams just inside the box. The Welshman had time to run onto the loose ball, driving a powerful shot beyond Martin Dubravka with the aid of a Quildinschy Hartman deflection.
Conceding so early into a game is far from ideal at the best of times, but doing so against a possession-heavy Postecoglou side made for some moans and groans from the home faithful as the Clarets struggled to get a touch of the ball.
But the home side got the crowd on their side with some well-orchestrated closing down, resulting in some space down the left for Quildinschy Hartman - who tried his luck with a speculative volley which was well turned behind by Matz Sels.
With just 20 minutes on the clock, Burnley levelled matters. I’d love to say it was a beautifully crafted goal, but it really wasn’t, not that the Clarets particularly cared.
A ball into the Forest box was headed down into a dangerous area by Loum Tchaouna, allowing Jaidon Anthony to get a shot off at goal. He failed to make clean contact, but his effort still managed to bobble past Sels before being helped over the line by Oleksandr Zinchenko, who desperately tried to clear on the line.
With Turf Moor now a cauldron of noise, Anthony almost got in behind once again seconds after the equaliser, only to lose possession as he cut inside from the left flank to open up more space for himself.
Just before the half-hour mark, Dubravka pulled off a superb save to stop Forest from restoring the lead, as the former Newcastle man tipped Dilane Bakwa’s curling effort around the post at full stretch following some intricate build-up play.
Chris Wood got his first sniff of goal in the 33rd minute and it was a good one, having been picked out by marauding centre-back Nikola Milenkovic. But the striker could only shoot straight at Dubravka on the turn.
On the stroke of half-time, Josh Laurent produced a teasing ball across the face of the six-yard box that went untouched - with the cross only needing a tap-in a few yards from goal.
The Clarets still had time to go close to taking the lead, as Loum Tchaouna saw a sublime, curling free-kick rebound off the crossbar.
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Burnley then squandered a big chance to edge ahead within 18 seconds of the restart, as Anthony was denied by Sels after being played in by Lyle Foster. The hosts kept the ball alive and the two combined once again, only this time it was Anthony’s cross that Foster failed to get a touch to inside the six-yard box.
Burnley continued to stay on top at the start of the second-half, as Anthony again fizzed the palms of Sels with a long-range effort having cut in from the left flank.
With the game finely poised, Dubravka made another crucial stop as Forest threatened for the first time in the second half - the keeper clawing Igor Jesus’ header away from goal after the effort had skipped up off the wet turf.
Two minutes later, the Slovakian was at it again, this time diving to his right to push Williams’ first-time effort away from goal.
The Clarets were coming under increasing pressure during the final 10 minutes, as Hartman produced a crucial block to deny Forest sub Arnaud Kalimuendo, who really ought to have scored.
The away side looked the more likely to grab a late winner, but Burnley defended resolutely and thankfully there was no more late drama to contend with.
TEAMS
Burnley: Dubravka, Walker, Laurent, Ekdal, Esteve, Hartman, Florentino, Cullen, Tchaouna (Hannibal), Anthony, Foster (Flemming)
Subs not used: Weiss, Humphreys, Worrall, Pires, Edwards, Barnes, Broja
Forest: Sels, Williams, Milenkovic, Morato, Zinchenko, Anderson, Luiz (Kalimuendo), Gibbs-White, Bakwa (Hudson-Odoi), Ndoye (Sangare), Wood (Jesus)
Subs not used: John, Yates, Cunha, McAtee, Hutchinson
Referee: Thomas Bramall
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