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Burnley climb out of bottom three after earning point at Aston Villa

19-May-2022 21:01:46 | The Guardian

And then there were two. Burnley picked up a precious point at Aston Villa to ensure they head into the final day with the upper hand on Leeds and if they do end up securing safety by virtue of their far superior goal difference then they will surely reflect on Nick Pope’s superb performance here. Equally, Burnley will wonder how on earth Tyrone Mings prevented Wout Weghorst from side-footing in a winner five minutes from time, after Connor Roberts’s deft touch at the front post prompted an instinctive save by Emiliano Martínez. Pope made a trio of fine stops, arguably saving the best to last to deny the substitute Bertrand Traoré glancing in a header. In the end Burnley had to make do with a draw, after Emi Buendía made amends for conceding a first-half penalty, from which Ashley Barnes scored, by equalising early in the second period. The Burnley substitute Matt Lowton was awarded a straight red card in second-half stoppage time.

In the buildup to this game Burnley’s caretaker manager, Mike Jackson, told how several of his players had pledged to play their part even if not 100% fit and James Tarkowski, who is out of contract next month, returned to the heart of defence following a hamstring injury that forced him off in the reverse fixture less than a fortnight ago, which Villa won 3-1 at Turf Moor. Ashley Westwood, who is recovering from a broken ankle, has been mucking in with opposition analysis and Matej Vydra paid the squad a visit on crutches after knee surgery. Ben Mee, Tarkowski’s usual sidekick and Burnley’s club captain, recently returned to training but remained on the sidelines in a club tracksuit here, instead helping Jackson with the warmup and instructing from the away dugout.