An extra-time goal from the substitute Jack Cork took Burnley into a final play-off against Olympiakos to try to claim a place in the Europa League proper, mercifully saving this most tepid of encounters from the farce that would have been a penalty shoot-out.

Based on the 90 minutes that preceded Cork’s goal, it would have been interesting to see if either of the sides could have worked up any enthusiasm for a win. A low-tempo fixture drifted inexorably towards extra time with no one apparently willing to step up the pace to force a result, until Burnley finally broke the deadlock seven minutes into the overtime period.

It looked for a while as if Chris Wood and Jeff Hendrick might have missed the chance to strike by passing the ball around the penalty area rather than shooting, but when it was laid back to Cork he made no mistake from 20 yards.

Other than that there was almost nothing to get excited about. The TV executives who decided against screening the game made the right decision. The most memorable moment of a limp evening came shortly after Cork’s goal when the Burnley crowd broke into a chant of “You’re not singing any more”. Amusing, because there were no more than a dozen Turkish fans present and they had not uttered a peep all night.

“We made six changes and still managed to beat a good side,” Sean Dyche said. “It shows our squad mentality, we were still pressing after 97 minutes and that’s how we got the goal.”

In normal time Burnley created the first clear-cut opening when Ashley Barnes got away with a rather obvious shove on Alexandru Epureanu on the touchline and decided his luck must be in, advancing into the penalty area to shoot selfishly into the side-netting with teammates waiting in the middle. A weak clearance by Mert Gunok was pounced on by Phil Bardsley, who kept his rising drive on target from outside the area, only for the goalkeeper to redeem himself with a diving save.

Confronted by a team of limited ambition, Dyche’s slightly-less-than-full-strength side struggled to make the most of early dominance, enjoying plenty of possession but not really carving out any chances.

In particular they failed to offer any penetration down the flanks, essential to bring the best out of Barnes and Sam Vokes, and would have been embarrassed had Basaksehir managed to snatch the lead. The visitors had two excellent chances to do just that, first when Hendrick was dispossessed to allow Edin Visca a shot from the edge of the area, then when Kerim Frei found a way round the back of the home defence to give Visca a second chance from closer range. Joe Hart was equal to both, making two important saves in the closing minutes of the first half, though neither was as vital as the diving stop he made in the final seconds of extra time to deny Basaksehir a winner. “We tried everything but we couldn’t beat an experienced goalkeeper,” the Basaksehir coach, Abdulla Avci, said.

Burnley should have gone ahead at the start of the second half when Ashley Westwood arrowed in a cross from the left to an unmarked Barnes, yet from an inviting position on the six-yard line in front of goal the normally reliable striker put his header over the bar.

Basaksehir sent on Emmanuel Adebayor midway through the second half while Burnley kept Wood back until eight minutes from the end. The former did have a late chance, from a cross from the right, but shanked his shot into the crowd in a manner that would have been familiar to anyone who saw him in action for Arsenal, Manchester City or Spurs.

His style has often been euphemistically described as languid. On this occasion he was far from on his own.