Burnley 1 Aston Villa 1: Big match analysis of Premier League clash

Nov 23 2009 by Lisa Smith, Birmingham Mail

RICHARD Dunne wasn’t the only one left feeling he had missed out on a major prize this week.

Just ask the Burnley fan summoned pitchside at Turf Moor to be presented with the keys to a shiny new motor at half-time only to be told an error meant he hadn’t won it after all.

Dunne, just like that hapless fan, must feel the world is against him having been cheated out of his place at the World Cup Finals next summer by Frenchman Thierry Henry.

But his pain after that crushing handball was at least eased by team-mate Emile Heskey, whose late equaliser for Villa means Dunne might not have the world at his feet next summer but he might just have Europe.

Villa moved into fourth place in the Premier League – for 24 hours at least – thanks to the supersub’s 86th-minute header which cancelled out a ninth-minute opener from Burnley skipper Steve Caldwell.

Villa last won at Turf Moor 73 years ago and it looked like they were going to have to wait at least another season after Owen Coyle’s highly-organised side laid into them almost as harshly as the driving wind and rain.

The visitors looked all at sea from the opening minutes and were punished on nine when a Robbie Blake free-kick was whipped into the six-yard box and neither Dunne nor Brad Friedel dealt with it.

Up popped Caldwell to slam it home from short range to send the Burnley fans into raptures, perhaps sensing Villa might be joining Manchester United and Everton in their list of top-drawer scalps.

Villa struggled to deal with the pressure on the pitch and from the fans off it as Burnley’s biggest home crowd of the season really got behind the Clarets, who reached the top flight through the play-offs in the summer.

Time and again Burnley attacked with their midfield, including 38-year-old veteran Graham Alexander, leading the way.

Ashley Young’s foraging runs were repeatedly snuffed out by a Burnley defence with some real bite in Clarke Carlisle and Tyrone Mears.

Minutes after their goal the hosts almost made their possession tell again when former Manchester United winger Chris Eagles whipped in a cross for Stephen Fletcher who teed up former Reading defender Andre Bikey. His shot was on target but merely stung the hands of Friedel.

Villa’s only real chance of the half came when Clarets keeper Brian Jensen was caught out by Gabby Agbonlahor, the striker managing to latch on to an Ashley Young ball before blasting it over the bar.

Dunne’s misery continued when he was adjudged to have pulled Fletcher back by his shirt – the Irishman duly booked for the first time this season.

Fletcher then earned a free-kick after being felled by Carlos Cuellar but Mears wasted the opportunity, blasting it high over Friedel’s bar. Villa boss Martin O’Neill must have read the riot act at half-time because at least the side who appeared after the break seemed to have some new-found intensity, although Burnley still managed to maintain their ascendancy.

When Steve Sidwell missed a great opportunity, heading wide from an Ashley Young free-kick, it looked as though another Burnley win was on the cards.

But O’Neill then threw on winger Stewart Downing, leaving everyone scratching their heads. The former Middlesbrough star was not expected back from a broken foot until Christmas but defied all the odds by making a 70th-minute appearance for Sidwell.

Downing will need match fitness before he is really able to make a difference but perhaps his mere inclusion gave Villa a shot in the arm.

O’Neill made another substitution with ten minutes to go, moving James Milner to right-back and taking off Luke Young for Heskey.

But as Burnley pressed it still looked as though Villa were going to waste their chance to steal a march on Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. However, Heskey had other ideas.

The striker, who has hinted at moving to another club in the New Year and had not scored all season, made amends with a header after great work by Milner, who whipped the ball into the danger area.

Heskey celebrated as though he realised he might not score a more important goal.

It not only silenced his critics but the Burnley fans too and once again underlined just why, as far as England coach Fabio Capello is concerned, wherever he plays next season he will be on the plane to South Africa.