Brighton and Hove Albion vs Burnley. Premier League.
Amex StadiumAttendance29,398.
Report and highlights as Neal Maupay's opener is cancelled out in stoppage time
Saturday 14 September 2019 19:15, UK
Jeff Hendrick's stoppage-time strike denied Brighton manager Graham Potter a first Premier League home win as Burnley earned a 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium.
Neal Maupay looked to have secured all three points for the Seagulls after he volleyed the hosts in front (51) on his 100th appearance in English football.
But Hendrick's thunderous strike - Burnley's first on target - in the first minute of injury time secured an unlikely point for the Clarets to deny Brighton a first home league victory since early March.
The result leaves Potter's side in 14th place after an eighth home league game without a win while Burnley stay 12th with both teams locked on five points and now without a win in four games.
Burnley, who secured back-to-back wins over their opponents last season, made the brighter start and were unfortunate not to take the lead on 15 minutes when Shane Duffy's scuffed clearance from Dwight McNeil's cross deflected off Adam Webster and looped just over his own crossbar.
Moments later, the visitors came close once more as Jack Cork chested down James Tarkowski's header from a McNeil set piece before his dragged shot just missed the outstretched Ashley Barnes at the far post.
But the hosts grew into the contest and created chances of their own before the interval. Solly March tested Nick Pope at his near post before the England goalkeeper did well to keep out Glenn Murray's curled shot on the stroke of half-time after a disguised Pascal Gross pass.
Potter clearly told his players to continue in the same vein following the restart as within six minutes, the hosts were ahead. Matt Lowton had already gone close to slicing the ball into his own net when Maupay tested Pope at his near post after being released down the left by Gross.
Burnley's reprieve was short-lived as from the next attack, March's cross from the left was acrobatically hooked beyond Pope by Maupay after he had gained a yard of space on Tarkowski.
Davy Propper came close to doubling the home side's lead when his header from Murray's cross flashed just over the bar, before Chris Wood was unable to direct Ashley Westwood's wayward volley on target in a rare sight of Brighton's goal for the visitors.
It looked like the hosts had done enough to secure a first home win since beating Huddersfield 1-0 on March 2, but that dramatically changed as the game headed into stoppage time.
Hendrick had played just four minutes of Premier League football this term before his second-half introduction but on his 100th top flight appearance, he showed no signs of rust as he latched onto Matej Vydra's lay-off to blast Burnley level.
Graham Potter: "We would've liked the three points and apart from the first 25 minutes when Burnley were the better team, we changed things around and from there I thought we were the most likely team to win. They scored from their only shot on target and sometimes that happens.
"We put a lot into the game, and we're disappointed to come away with a point but in terms of the performance it was very promising. We had to score the second goal, and in the Premier League there's always quality on the pitch that can hurt you. That's the reality of it.
"Burnley are always in the game with the use of their centre forwards and the way they defend so deep, it's not easy to create chances but I thought we did that. But it's a sore one to concede so late."
Sean Dyche: "It was a good finish to a hard performance. We were good for the first 25 minutes and were the better side. We created chances, and we asked enough questions but we weren't clinical. They then changed to a more familiar format to last season, and the game levelled out to half-time.
"In the second half, we didn't get going at all and they were the better side. They went in front but yet again the belief in our group was on show. The changes we made affected the game.
"I don't want to be too critical on the players for the second half as it was the first dip we've had in performance this season, so we come away with a good point in the sense that we weren't at our best."
Gross had been left out of Potter's starting line-up in the previous two Premier League games, but in the absence of Leandro Trossard, the German assumed responsibilities once more as Brighton's chief creative spark.
Gross, who made twice as many key passes as any other player (6), produced a stand-out performance full of energy and guile.
It was his pass that nearly led to Glen Murray's opener just before the break and substitute Aaron Connolly had the chance to seal the points late on from another piece of unselfish play from the former Ingolstadt midfielder.
Brighton travel to face Newcastle next Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League (kick-off: 5.30pm). Burnley host Norwich on the same day (kick-off: 3pm).
