It is no victor no vanquished scenario at Turf Moor
Burnley and Norwich City’s winless cruise in the season continued as the settled for a goalless draw on Saturday at the Turf Moor.
The first 0-0 draw between these clubs after 44 meetings in all competitions neatly summed up how their seasons are going to date.
Sean Dyche celebrated 400 games in charge of the Clarets and there was a first Burnley clean sheet of the campaign but those were among the few positive statistics on an afternoon when they extended a club-record winless home run to 14 matches.
Norwich at least ended their miserable run of 16 straight defeats in the top flight but there was little on show at Turf Moor to hint a radical change of fortunes is imminent.
The form of both sides coming into the fixture suggests this could be a Championship fixture next season and it played out like one for much of the afternoon with a lack of quality on show.
Max Aarons flashed an early shot wide for Norwich after Matt Lowton had his pocket picked by Teemu Pukki, who would prove a pest for a Burnley defence without the influential Ben Mee – out with an injury to allow Nathan Collins a Premier League debut in his place.
The summer signing from Stoke was in the thick of it with 15 minutes gone when he was caught by Tim Krul as he came for a free-kick – but Burnley shouts for a penalty were waved away by Kevin Friend.
Tempers frayed again soon afterwards when Chris Wood was booked for a late tackle on Ozan Kabak – the first of four Burnley players to be cautioned before the break.
Their sense of frustration was further fueled as Friend waved away further penalty claims, though none of them were clear.
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Matej Vydra was eased over by Grant Hanley as they chased a loose ball before Jay Rodriguez – who replaced the dazed Czech in the 35th minute – saw his header hit Hanley’s chest, then his arm.
Lowton then hit a shot against Dimitris Giannoulis’ outstretched arm late in the half, though the defender knew little about it.
Instead, the closest Burnley would come to breaking the deadlock in the first half was a Lowton cross which Mathias Normann inadvertently headed at goal, with Krul adjusting well to hold on to the ball.