BRIGHTON, Nov 7 ― Brighton & Hove Albion played out a dull 0-0 draw with Burnley in the Premier League today and the stalemate did neither side any favours in their attempts to ease relegation worries after a lacklustre clash at the Amex stadium.
Burnley failed to score in their fourth straight game while Brighton missed a chance to pull clear of the drop zone with new signing Danny Welbeck wasting the best chance of the match.
The result left Brighton 16th in the table on six points from eight games while Burnley, yet to win a league match this season, moved off the bottom into 19th on two points from seven.
Brighton manager Graham Potter was pleased with his team's effort and with ex-England striker Welbeck, who joined the club on a free transfer last month after being released by Watford.
“You’ve got to score, that was the only thing missing from our performance,” Potter said. “We restricted Burnley to pretty much nothing. We had chances.
“Performance-wise, I’m really happy. We’re always looking to improve. It’s disappointing to only get one point.
“The fact Danny Welbeck gets in there is really positive. It was a really good impact and good performance. He’ll get better and better the longer he’s with us.”
Brighton were more purposeful going forward and missed several chances although the visitors nearly drew first blood when Matt Lowton hit the crossbar in the fourth minute.
Robbie Brady fired wide for Burnley with an acrobatic overhead kick before their keeper Nick Pope pulled off a fine reflex save to deny 29-year-old Welbeck, keeping out the former Manchester United and Arsenal forward's shot with his feet.
Brighton's Neal Maupay, restored to the side, had a shot blocked after a promising move midway through the second half as the home side pressed, but Burnley's defence kept a clean sheet after making several timely clearances in the closing stages.
Burnley boss Sean Dyche was happy his team were able to avoid defeat although he conceded that they need to start winning games if they are to avoid relegation.
“I thought the mentality was right and we looked more like ourselves with our defensive shape and urgency,” he said.
“We know we have to create better chances but it's a base to build on. We're never a million miles away but we need to get on the right side of margins and it needs to happen quickly.” ― Reuters
