Burnley 2-2 Aston Villa: Fans left encouraged by display full of positivity and purpose

It was almost as if the shackles were off in Mike Jackson’s first home game in charge as interim boss as the Clarets claimed a 2-2 draw.

While Burnley’s long wait for a home win in the league stretches to 205 days, there can be no complaints with this performance, which was full of desire, endeavour and purpose.

The home side took a deserved first-half lead when Jaidon Anthony turned home from close range, but Villa - fresh from qualifying for the Europa League final on Thursday night - levelled just before the interval following a spell of pressure.

But despite going 2-1 down to a soft Ollie Watkins goal, Burnley weren’t to be deterred and quickly got back on level terms through Zian Flemming, making up for two previous misses.

Both sides could have won it towards the end, but the Clarets were left to settle for a more than respectable point against a very talented Villa outfit.

Burnley, who now have just one win in their last 27 league games, head to title-chasing Arsenal next week before ending the season at home to bottom side Wolves.

Jackson rung the changes from last week’s defeat to Leeds, making six in total.

The headline news came in goal, where Martin Dubravka was displaced for the first time this season to be replaced by Max Weiss, who started his first Premier League game.

Dubravka, who has started every league game up until this point, is out of contract this summer and is expected to move on.

Elsewhere, Axel Tuanzebe, Lucas Pires, Florentino Luis, Lesley Ugochukwu and Hannibal all came into the side.

Making way were Hjalmar Ekdal, Bashir Humphreys, Quilindschy Hartman, Josh Laurent and James Ward-Prowse.

Jordan Beyer, Connor Roberts, Josh Cullen and Enock Agyei all remain sidelined, while the likes of Joe Worrall, Marcus Edwards, Mike Tresor and Ashley Barnes were left out.

As for Villa, former Claret loanee Ian Maatsen started as Unai Emery made three changes from their Europa League semi-final win over Nottingham Forest on Thursday night.

The first chance of the game went Villa’s way as England’s Morgan Rogers dragged a shot wide of the far post after being picked out by a lovely John McGinn pass.

But it was Burnley, not Villa who took a surprise early lead through Jaidon Anthony, who notched his ninth goal of the campaign.

It was a simple finish for the winger, who just had to side foot home after Emi Martinez could only spill Lesley Ugochukwu’s curling effort straight into his path.

The Villa defenders immediately turned to the linesman expecting an offside flag, but Anthony was comfortably on.

Rather depressingly, the goal marked the first time Burnley had taken the lead in a home league game since the 2-2 draw with Manchester United at the start of January.

Not only were the Clarets playing with more of a purpose going forwards, they also looked a lot more solid defensively - remaining disciplined whenever they had men behind the ball.

Burnley really ought to have doubled their lead before the half-hour mark, but Zian Flemming squandered a gilt-edged chance to get his name on the scoresheet.

The chance was created by Loum Tchaouna who, not for the first time, had Ian Maatsen on toast down the right flank. He then pulled the ball back to Zian Flemming, who took a touch to settle himself before side footing wastefully wide, when he really should have hit the target as a bare minimum.

Burnley had earned a bit of good fortune with their performance and that’s exactly what came their way, when Ross Barkley could only skew wide after being picked out by McGinn just six yards out.

Youri Tielemans then tried his luck from range but it was relatively central as Weiss tipped it over his bar for a corner.

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Villa were beginning to step things up as the half progressed towards the interval, so much so they thought they had equalised in the 38th minute when Ollie Watkins headed home from close range.

But the striker was ruled offside by a smidgeon of his boot as he stretched to reach Rogers’ centre.

While it was a strange feeling to see a VAR decision go Burnley’s way for once, it couldn’t help them a minute later when Barkley did in fact equalise with a glancing header from a McGinn corner, as Villa’s pressure told.

Villa remained on the front foot before the half was even up, but Lucas Pires produced two clearances deep into injury time to keep Burnley level - which is what they deserved for their efforts, as they were clapped off at half time.

Villa dominated possession and territory at the start of the second period but the first real opening came Burnley’s way, as Flemming missed another big chance.

In his defence, this one was a lot harder as Hannibal squared the ball to him after getting the wrong side of Villa’s backline, but he failed to find the target at full stretch.

Having rued Flemming’s miss in the first half, they were left to rue this one too as Villa completed the turnaround and edged 2-1 in front with the following move.

Having been denied by offside in the first half, Watkins wasn’t to be denied on this occasion as he nudged the ball past the onrushing Weiss and into the back of the empty net.

From Burnley’s perspective, it was a hugely disappointing goal to concede, with one long ball forward from Martinez opening up their defence.

But the Clarets responded well and weren’t behind for long, levelling three minutes later as Flemming made amends for his earlier misses.

The Dutchman took this one in clinical fashion, side footing past Martinez at his near post after Hannibal had cleverly flicked Lesley Ugochukwu’s pass into the striker’s path.

At the other end, and not for the first time, Burnley were reliant on Maxime Esteve producing an exceptional last-ditch tackle to keep Villa at bay, this time to deny Barkley a second.

The hosts were dealt a blow midway through the second half when Hannibal was forced off with a knock, landing a potential blow to his World Cup hopes this summer with Tunisia.

In a repeat of the first half, Villa began to step things up again as we neared the final 15 minutes or so, as McGinn headed wide of the upright from Lucas Digne’s admittedly pacey cross.

Substitute Zeki Amdouni then brought a good save out of Martinez low down at his near post after trying his luck from outside the box.

Burnley were left nervously waiting in the final minute of normal time when Emi Buendia threw himself to the ground inside the box.

While referee Anthony Taylor emphatically waved away the appeals, there did appear to be contact from Kyle Walker on the forward’s heels and you never know if VAR will intervene. But fortunately on this occasion it didn’t.

It set up an exciting end, with both sides looking for a winner, and Burnley almost found it when subs Jacob Bruun Larsen and Amdouni combined, only for the latter to fluff his lines in front of goal.

Weiss was also forced into a late stop in what was a frantic end to the game, with Burnley fans voicing their appreciation upon the final whistle.

TEAMS

Burnley: Weiss, Walker, Tuanzebe, Esteve, Pires, Florentino (Ward-Prowse), Ugochukwu (Laurent), Hannibal (Foster), Tchaouna, Anthony (Bruun Larsen), Flemming (Amdouni)

Subs not used: Dubravka, Humphreys, Hartman, Broja

Villa: Martinez, Cash (Bogarde), Lindelof (Buendia), Konsa, Mings, Maatsen (Digne), Barkley (Luiz), McGinn (Bailey), Tielemans, Rogers, Watkins

Subs not used: Bizot, Torres, Sancho, Abraham

Referee: Anthony Taylor

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