Burnley held in Fabio Celestini’s first game in charge

Burnley were held to a goalless draw against Portsmouth in Fabio Celestini’s first game in charge.

The Clarets were the better side and will rue not taking advantage of their chances, especially in the first-half where they dominated.

Marcus Edwards squandered their biggest opportunity, somehow managing to skew up and over the crossbar from just a yard out.

Pompey, however, will argue they had a more than fair goal ruled out when goalkeeper Gregoire Coudert was generously awarded a foul as he attempted to punch clear.

While Burnley constantly banged on the Pompey door during the first 45, they ran out of steam a little during the second half and the game largely petered out.

Despite the failure to get a win, which extends Burnley’s winless home league run to 378 days, supporters were left encouraged by an improved performance - especially coming off the back of last week’s debacle at Lincoln, which proved to be the end for Nicky Hayen.

Burnley were certainly a lot better defensively, keeping a rare clean sheet and not even allowing Portsmouth a single shot on target.

At the other end, however, they will be disappointed not to capitalise on their pressure, as they failed to score from 18 attempts on goal.

Celestini made three changes to the side that were beaten heavily by Lincoln City last week, which proved to be the final straw for Nicky Hayen.

Max Alleyne dropped down to the bench, while neither Dastan Satpayev and Armando Broja were involved.

Broja limped off with what is understood to be a groin injury at Lincoln last week, while reports in his native Kazakhstan suggest Satpayev has picked up another problem.

The 18-year-old has been left out of Kazakhstan’s squad for their upcoming Nations League games.

Marcus Edwards, Andreas Hountondji and the returning Jamie Vardy all came into the starting XI.

Celestini was able to name a strong bench, with Anel Ahmedhodzic, Josh Cullen, Aaron Ramsey and Jaydon Banel all returning.

For Cullen, it was the midfielder’s first involvement in a match day squad since December 30, 2025, when he suffered an ACL injury against Everton.

Ben Amos, Jordan Beyer, Bashir Humphreys, Shurandy Sambo, Hannibal, Jacob Bruun Larsen, Mike Tresor, Zeki Amdouni, Ashley Barnes and Michael Obafemi all remain sidelined.

As for Pompey, they made one change as Jayden Meghoma comes in for Terry Devlin.

Burnley showed good intent from the first whistle, with Marcus Edwards charging into the Pompey box early on only for his shot to be blocked.

Burnley’s system looked to be a fluid and flexible one, with Hountondji pulling out to the right out of possession and Edwards moving up top alongside Vardy, only to drop into a number 10 role when the Clarets are on the ball.

Some of the work Celestini had overseen over the last couple of days was certainly evident, in terms of the patterns of play, but the execution was a little hit and miss, with poor touches and passes going astray.

Pompey threatened for the first time in the 10th minute, when Adrian Segecic drilled just wide with a slightly deflected effort after a free kick had thundered into the Burnley wall.

After dealing with the resulting corner, the Clarets immediately broke at speed through the centre of the pitch as Edwards picked out the run of Vardy, but Pompey keeper Nicolas Schmid rushed off his line quickly to see off the danger.

At the other end, Gregoire Coudert wasn’t so convincing as he opted to punch a corner away rather than catch, only for his attempted clearance to land straight to Marlon Pack. The Pompey skipper lobbed the ball straight over Coudert and into the back of the net, only for the ref to immediately blow for a foul on the Burnley keeper by Ryan Kavuma-McQueen as he attempted to clear his lines.

The two sides continued to exchange half chances, as Hountondji headed just over from a fiercely-delivered ball in from the right.

Edwards wasted a good chance to put Burnley ahead when he received the ball in space inside the box, only to delay and delay, which only led to the chance going to waste.

The Clarets stepped up the tempo at this point, as Kyle Walker saw a curling effort tipped over before Edwards somehow managed to skew up and over the bar from all of a yard out as a Lucas Pires corner deflected into his path.

While the ball came at him at some pace, all he had to do was let it hit him and surely it would have ended up in the back of the net.

The hosts were well on top at this point and were looking threatening, as Hountondji saw a stabbed effort well held following some pinball in the Pompey box.

Burnley had what appeared to be a good shout for a penalty waved away when Walker was tripped inside the box. While the referee had a good look at it, he remained unmoved and allowed the game to continue.

The Clarets continued to knock on the door, as a deflected Edwards drive drifted just wide of the upright following a quick give and go on the edge of the box.

The half ended with Burnley fans venting their frustration at an inexperienced referee, who made a number of questionable and inconsistent calls.

The second half took a while to get going, with the first half chance of sorts falling to Vardy at the near post, but Pompey were able to scramble clear.

Abu Kamara, meanwhile, curled harmlessly wide as Pompey threatened for the first time in a long while.

The frustrating thing was, the game was there to be won. While the visitors were defending well and the ball just wouldn’t bounce for Burnley in the box, their lack of quality wasn’t quite there either in the final third.

That was evident once again 20 minutes from time when Largie Ramazani skewed wide in space at the back post. It was a tough chance, with the ball coming at him quickly, but a good one.

Burnley fans were then given a huge boost when Josh Cullen made his return after a 308-day absence, while Aaron Ramsey also made an injury return of his own.

Very little of note happened during the final stages though, as the game largely petered out with neither side able to fashion any late chances.

TEAMS

Burnley: Coudert, Walker, Ekdal, Igor, Pires, Laurent, Hatate (Cullen), Edwards (Sonne), Ramazani, Hountondji (Ramsey), Vardy (Banel)

Subs not used: Weiss, Ahmedhodzic, Alleyne, Roberts, Raghouber, Ramsey

Pompey: Schmid, Poole, Pack, Segecic (Adams), Kamara (Waddingham), Meghoma (Devlin), Swanson, Kavuma-McQueen (Shade), Marezi (Murphy), Mohamed, Dia

Subs not used: Bielica, Shaughnessy, Shein, Bailey

Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo

Attendance: 18,811