BALTIMORE, Maryland September 13, 2014 - Burnley earned a second consecutive clean sheet, this time on the road, but when Scott Arfield's penalty shot in the 85th minute was parried by Crystal Palace Keeper Julian Speroni, Burnley had to "settle" for a second straight scoreless draw. Burnley Coach Sean Dyche kept his cool about it and refused to second guess or criticize his midfielder, who has Burnley's only Premier League goal this season, scored in the 14th minute against Chelsea on opening night. The Claret are now 0 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses in the Premier, good for two total points. Their goal differential after four matches is only -3. Burnley next takes the field one week from today at Sunderland.
In this, their second Premier League season, today's result is Burnley's first clean sheet away from Turf Moor. Last Saturday, when they posted a scoreless draw with Manchester United, it was the Claret's first ever Premier League clean sheet. The rapidly improving Burnley defense has now surrendered only one goal since halftime of the opening night match against Chelsea. The league leaders are currently 4-0-0, with a goal differential of +12. They scored all three of their opening night goals in the first half against Burnley. Since that half ended, the only goal against the Claret in the 3 and one-half matches since then was the one homestanding Swansea scored in its 1-0 win in the second game of the season. Tom Heaton has been in goal for all four games, and his goals against average is now exactly one.
Crystal Palace was on the attack seconds after the opening whistle sounded, but Heaton and his mates dealt with it, and by the second half, Burnley was in charge of the ball and swarming to nets for a score. Arfield made a strong run down the field and launched what the BBC called a "fierce, curling drive" at the Crystal Palace net, but Speroni blocked that shot also. When Palace defender Mile Jedinak conceded the penalty shot by tackling Lukas Jutkiewicz in the box at the 83:24 mark, it looked like Burnley would get the maximum three points available in the match. But Arfield's hard shot to the Keeper's left and at virtual ground level was saved by a diving Speroni.
The Burnley defense (Keeper Tom Heaton, and fullbacks Jason Shackell, Ben Mee, Michael Duff and Kieran Trippier) has built a virtual wall around the Burnley net. Today's starting line-up for Burnley included Midfielder George Boyd, who Burnley signed this week for the most money ever paid by the Claret's ownership body. Of concern to Burnley going forward is the injury sustained by forward Danny Ings just under five minutes before the half. The team is describing the injury as being to Ings' hamstring. He left the match at the 40:11 mark, replaced by Marvin Sordell. As the BBC pointed out, Ings and Sam Vokes were the dynamic duo last season for Burnley, scoring 47 goals between them. But Vokes sustained a serious knee injury in the final weeks of the last campaign, and has yet to return to the bench in uniform. There is still no prediction as to when that day will come. Ings seems out of sorts without Vokes, and he, too, has failed to score. He even failed to score in the preseason. The Claret are in desperate need of these two lads to get back on the field in shape and scoring goals.
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