Burnley must be wondering where their next win is coming from. It has been more than two months and nine games since their most recent one in the Premier League. They were the superior team here on Saturday, but unable to find the goal to close the gap on 17th.
The hosts had more of the ball and had an xG (expected goals) of 1.65, but failed to hit the target from their 16 shots, partially explaining why they find themselves six points from the last safe spot. There was plenty of effort and endeavour from Burnley, but further evidence they lack the quality required. For Everton, in the absence of key personnel, they will be pleased to avoid a third defeat in a row.
The opening stages were not promising for those wanting festive entertainment. It took until the 29th minute for either side to test a goalkeeper, although Carlos Alcaraz heading straight at Martin Dubravka merely found out the Slovakian was awake. Everton could be forgiven for their blunt nature, missing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish, the last of these absent with a virus. That left the visitors short of thrust and substitutes, naming eight, including two goalkeepers.
Only the other promoted sides, Sunderland and Leeds, have come to Turf Moor and lost. Burnley need home victories to provide a slender chance of survival. With each passing week the prospects of Premier League football here next season are looking bleaker.
Armando Broja, fresh from scoring his first Premier League goal in 40 games, returned to the starting lineup. He hassled defenders when he could, but found little in the way of support. On his first Premier League start, Marcus Edwards buzzed, but often found himself down blind allies, while Jacob Bruun Larsen took time to get into the game. The pair combined for Burnley’s best chance of the opening hour, which the Dane lobbed over the bar when through one-on-one.
This sparked Turf Moor and its team into life. Bruun Larsen had another shot blocked soon after and Jordan Pickford was forced to tip a looping header over the bar. The ground had been quiet until this point, resigned to Burnley’s fate come May. It was very much a scenario of needing the players to inspire the fans rather than vice versa.
“I thought we were superb,” Scott Parker said. “We showed real endeavour, willingness and quality. You need to take your chances and that’s probably a frustration. It’s certainly something we can be critical of, but for the large part the team were very good.”
After 60 minutes of very little, the game became an event. There was more reason for the home fans to cheer when Dubravka reacted quickly to repel a smart Beto flick from close range. Alcaraz also wanted to offer some entertainment with an overhead, which had the direction but not the power.
Noise and momentum were growing for Burnley, they were causing problems for Everton, whose lack of options off the bench caused stagnation. There were a couple of shouts for Everton penalties, but they were marginal calls and they would not have merited securing all the points.
Everton played in individual moments, seemingly conserving energy in this busy period. One player David Moyes did call upon to liven things up was Thierno Barry. The striker had the speed to get beyond the defence and thought he had the ferocity in the shot, only for Dubravka to excel himself again to prevent a goal.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to come and watch that myself,” Moyes said. “I really hoped we’d play much better than we did. That was probably as poor as we played in some games where football wasn’t good enough. Lots of bits of the football just wasn’t at the level I would hope it would be.”
Zian Flemming latched on to a through ball, but hit the inside of the post as the clock ticked towards 90 to sum up Burnley’s day. It was ruled offside regardless, but if it had gone into the net, the video assistant referee review would have made things interesting. Sadly for Burnley, it was an irrelevance thanks to a final poor finish.
Newcastle, poor travellers, visit on Tuesday for the next chance of ending the drought. It is a long wait until the final day, when Wolves are the opponents here.
