Burnley vs Stoke City. Sky Bet Championship.
Turf MoorAttendance18,131.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Burnley and Stoke City at Turf Moor as substitute Harry Clarke netted late on to earn a point for the Potters on Wednesday night.
Wednesday 5 October 2022 23:31, UK
Burnley surrendered a lead to draw 1-1 for the fourth time in five games as substitute Harry Clarke's late header earned Stoke City a point at Turf Moor.
The Clarets controlled the game for large periods and looked to have done enough to earn the victory thanks to Connor Roberts' first goal of the season early in the second half.
But Alex Neil's side always carried a threat and struck late when Tariqe Fosu was afforded space to pick out Clarke at the back post and he headed past Aro Muric.
The point will feel a valuable one to the visitors on the back of a 4-0 home drubbing by Watford but for Vincent Kompany it continues a trend of his side being unable to close games out, a pattern which is hindering their push at the top of the table.
Burnley came closest to scoring in a low-key first period with Jay Rodriguez crashing a swerving, dipping effort against the top of the bar from 25 yards before Josh Cullen forced Josef Bursik into a fine save with the last action of the half with an effort from the edge of the box.
The Clarets made most of the running, with Nathan Tella and Josh Brownhill shooting tamely at Bursik, as Stoke failed to test Muric in the home goal.
But the visitors were resilient in defence and limited their hosts to shots from long range.
Neil's side had the first opportunity of the second half when an errant Vitinho pass played in Tyrese Campbell but Muric stood tall at his near post to keep out the effort before he claimed a tame Liam Delap header.
Just as the Potters were finding some rhythm, Burnley struck. They nearly had the breakthrough when Bursik kept out Taylor Harwood-Bellis' close range header with his face and, moments later, Roberts advanced down the right. He found Brownhill, who slid a lovely return pass into the penalty area for the Welshman to crash a shot past Bursik at his near post and give the home side a 54th-minute lead.
Stoke searched for a response and Muric was alert to deny Delap when the visitors broke quickly and in numbers, while at the other end Brownhill forced a save from Bursik.
As time ticked down it seemed the hosts had done enough to earn a fourth home win of the season but Clarke planted a header past Muric from Fosu's cross with three minutes of normal time remaining.
Burnley's Vincent Kompany: "No matter how long you have been in the game it is not something you get used to, especially when there was a good tempo to our play. On all fronts we played a good game. We didn't concede chances and we created chances. Football is made of moments and that one crucial moment, it is not like you could see it coming. There was a restart and a couple of minutes on the side with one of their players being down and it went boom, boom and you are left again with a bitter taste.
"But at some point this type of performance will click and will lead to a run of wins. We are in and amongst it, five points off the top. Today is bitter but the challenge in this league is to stay focused and calm. It will hurt tonight but tomorrow we go again."
Stoke's Alex Neil: "We came here with a game-plan. I have watched Burnley a lot in recent weeks. I watched Wigan get after them and they got beat 5-1. I watched Cardiff at the weekend and other teams who have had success against them and it's come from that mid-block, frustrating them and hitting them on transition.
"Tonight it was important that we built from solid foundations. I was disappointed losing the goal because if you look at the game in its entirety, for all Burnley's use of the ball and having the ball, in terms of clear-cut chances we had three of the best. They are a really good team but I think we gave ourselves the best chance of winning the game, or certainly getting something from the game."
