Burnley 1 - 1 Aston Villa
Heskey saves point for Villa
| Scoring Summary | |
| Burnley | Aston Villa |
| Steven Caldwell (9) | Emile Heskey (86) |
| Match Stats | ||
| Burnley | Aston Villa | |
| Shots (on Goal) | 12(4) | 11(2) |
| Fouls | 7 | 14 |
| Corner Kicks | 6 | 8 |
| Offsides | 2 | 3 |
| Time of Possession | 47% | 53% |
| Yellow Cards | 0 | 3 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Saves | 1 | 3 |
| Match Information |
|
Stadium:
Turf Moor, England
Attendance: 21,178 Match Time: 10:00 ET Official(s): Howard Webb (Referee) |
| Teams | |
| Burnley | Aston Villa |
| 12 Brian Jensen | 1 Brad Friedel |
| 6 Steven Caldwell | 5 Richard Dunne |
| 5 Clarke Carlisle | 24 Carlos Jimenez Cuellar |
| 23 Stephen Jordan | 25 Stephen Warnock |
| 14 Tyrone Mears | 2 Luke Young |
| 21 André Stéphane Bikey | 19 Stiliyan Petrov |
| 2 Graham Alexander | 4 Steve Sidwell |
| 11 Wade Elliott | 7 Ashley Young |
| 20 Robbie Blake | 8 James Milner |
| 33 Chris Eagles | 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor |
| 9 Steven Fletcher | 10 John Carew |
| Substitutes | |
| 4 Michael Duff | Nicky Shorey 21 |
| 8 Joey Karl Gudjonsson | Emile Heskey 18 |
| 22 David Nugent | Nigel Reo-Coker 20 |
| 1 Diego Penny | Stewart Downing 6 |
| 30 Steve Thompson | Habib Beye 23 |
| 32 Fernando Guerrero Vasquez | Brad Guzan 22 |
| 7 Kevin McDonald | Fabian Delph 16 |
| Substitutions | |
| Kevin McDonald for Chris Eagles (69) | Stewart Downing for Steve Sidwell (70) |
| David Nugent for Steven Fletcher (75) | Emile Heskey for Luke Young (80) |
| Joey Karl Gudjonsson for Robbie Blake (81) | |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Richard Dunne (18) | |
| Steve Sidwell (31) | |
| Carlos Jimenez Cuellar (50) | |
| · Club Rosters: Burnley | Aston Villa | |
Updated: November 21, 2009, 3:02 AM ET
Substitute Emile Heskey rescued a point for Aston Villa with his 86th-minute header against Burnley at Turf Moor.• O'Neill wants a Heskey goal flurry
Burnley captain Steven Caldwell had put his side ahead with a ninth-minute header from Robbie Blake's free-kick.
That looked like being enough until Heskey popped up with four minutes to go to convert James Milner's cross.
History, and there was a lot of it, had been against Villa from the start as they had not won at Burnley in their previous 22 league meetings - their last was in 1936 - and were without an away victory in four games going into this fixture.
Prior to the game, the home record of Owen Coyle's side was bettered only by Chelsea and Manchester United.
The Clarets were tenacious yet controlled - epitomised by veteran midfielder Graham Alexander - while striker Steven Fletcher proved a handful for experienced centre-back Richard Dunne all afternoon.
Backed by a strong wind Burnley took an early lead and looked like holding on to it until Heskey's intervention.
Blake's inch-perfect inswinging free-kick from wide on the right may have just skimmed off Dunne but Caldwell was up challenging and he headed powerfully into the net despite Brad Friedel getting a fingertip to it.
Republic of Ireland defender Dunne's week showed no signs of improving when he was booked for a late challenge on Fletcher as the striker threatened to burst through the inside-left channel.
Andre Bikey's dipping volley from Fletcher's lay-off was only marginally over the crossbar and when Steve Sidwell deflected Alexander's long-range effort for a corner the unmarked Bikey headed wide when he should have hit the target.
Ten minutes before the interval Chris Eagles received a few choice words from Alexander after needlessly giving the ball away in the opposition's half, allowing Villa to spring a counter-attack which almost caught out Burnley.
Moments later Clarets goalkeeper Brian Jensen was almost embarrassed after racing out to the left edge of his penalty area only to miss the ball under pressure from Gabriel Agbonlahor.
The Villa striker laid off a pass for Ashley Young but he curled his shot over as Clarke Carlisle desperately tried to get back.
Burnley replied with Bikey's rising drive clipping Sidwell for another corner, which this time Friedel punched clear.
Seconds before half-time Ashley Young's corner picked out Milner at the far post and his pass across the six-yard area was fortuitously sliced behind by Alexander.
Five minutes after the interval Dunne was lucky to escape a second yellow card for pulling Fletcher's shirt on the edge of the penalty area, with Carlos Cuellar instead cautioned for fouling the Scotland striker.
Agbonlahor should then have scored soon after Tyrone Mears had curled his 20-yard free-kick wide, after Friedel's long punt was flicked on by John Carew.
The striker had only Jensen to beat but as he shot for the far corner the slightest of touches from the Dane diverted it around the post.
Immediately down the other end Blake forced Friedel to parry his stinging shot as the game became increasingly open.
Sidwell had half a chance to score from Ashley Young's viciously inswinging free-kick with 20 minutes to go but the ball flashed past the far post before the former Reading midfielder could reach it.
Burnley replaced Eagles with the powerfully-built Kevin McDonald while £12million summer signing from Middlesbrough Stewart Downing finally made his debut for Villa after an ankle injury when he replaced Sidwell.
It was the Clarets substitute who made the first contribution, setting up Fletcher for a fierce shot which Friedel tipped over.
Villa manager Martin O'Neill also threw on Heskey for full-back Luke Young late in the game and the England international salvaged a point in the 86th minute.
Milner collected Jensen's weak punch and curled a cross to the far post where Heskey held off Caldwell to head home the equaliser.
"It is obviously very important for him. He has the reputation of being a provider for other players to score goals,'' said O'Neill, who worked with Heskey when the pair were at Leicester. "That's fine, it's okay, but I think if you are a centre-forward you have to get your quota in.
"It was a great boost for him. He took it very well indeed. I've worked with him a long time and I think he is capable of scoring more goals than he does do.''
The point was enough to lift Villa into the top four, although Tottenham can take that place back with at least a point at home to Wigan on Sunday. O'Neill felt a draw was a fair result as his side had the better of the second half having been dominated before the interval.
"I think on our second-half performance we deserved it. We were stodgy in the first half when we had no reason to be,'' said the Villa manager. "We were coming into it on the back of a really great win (5-1 at home to Bolton) and confidence was high.
"I thought Burnley adjusted much better to the conditions in the first half than we did and they got the goal - which was not a very good goal from our point of view. It knocked us back a bit and we didn't get going at all until the second half when I thought the point was well merited.''
Despite conceding a late goal Burnley boss Owen Coyle could not fault his players. "I thought we were well-placed to get the three points. We were outstanding in the first half,'' he said. "We passed and moved the ball and created numerous opportunities and scored a good goal.
"Brad Friedel had one or two exceptional stops in the game. He was outstanding today and on another day it may have resulted in more goals. But we always knew in the second half Villa were going to come back at us. Brian Jensen made a great save from Agbonlahor and besides that I don't think they had too many opportunities.
"But we paid the price for not clearing a corner properly and not dealing with it when it came back in. We are disappointed but as a manager I can't ask any more from that group of players. They have worked their socks off and showed real quality on the ball.''
Coyle was disappointed with the goal they conceded but insisted his side were still finding their way in their maiden Premier League season. "We have to learn at this level, evolve and look to retain our Premier League status,'' he added. "Three points would have been a great way towards that but we take the one as we did at Manchester City (a 3-3 draw before the international break) and look to move on.''
Saturday, November 21, 2009
| Liverpool | 2 | |
| Manchester City | 2 | FT |
| Birmingham | 1 | |
| Fulham | 0 | FT |
| Burnley | 1 | |
| Aston Villa | 1 | FT |
| Chelsea | 4 | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | FT |
| Hull City | 3 | |
| West Ham United | 3 | FT |
| Sunderland | 1 | |
| Arsenal | 0 | FT |
| Manchester United | 3 | |
| Everton | 0 | FT |
