Burnley 0-0 Sunderland: Visitors hold on for rare point at Turf Moor

It only delayed the inevitable but Sunderland slowed Burnley’s gallop towards the Premier League a bit.

Vincent Kompany’s side lacked much of their usual pace, but inched closer to promotion – and the title – with one point putting them 17 clear of third-placed Middlesbrough.

Hopes that it will all be done and dusted off over Easter weekend will depend on other results now, but the Clarets will want to top the line against nearest rivals Boro and Sheffield United in their next two matches.

Sunderland, retaining playoff ambitions of their own, kept the leaders at arm’s length for the most part and might even have pulled off a win.

Manchester United loan Amad Diallo was unlucky enough to see a deflected shot bounce off the crossbar just minutes after coming on, and Josh Cullen’s sliding block made the difference.

Replays showed Patrick Roberts, who attacked Diallo, to have been sidelined in the run-up, but there’s no VAR here.

Sunderland had the ball in the net with six minutes from time, but Abdoullah Ba was offside when he headed in Jack Clarke’s low ball from the left after the home defense pushed.

The red smoke bomb that went off at the other end of the celebration turned out to be a bit premature, but Sunderland were worthy of their point.

Kompany spoke before the game about the moment his team’s 6-0 thrashing of Manchester City in the FA Cup was “flawless” as a brutal reality check.

He said the embarrassing scoreboard had a “shock effect” so his players weren’t “on the beach drinking pina coladas.”

Mind you, judging by the number of passes that went wide early here, maybe they did.

The possession-obsessed Clarets hoarded the ball but on three occasions played it straight and a loose pass from Ian Maatsen inside his own box almost led to a goal, but Jordan Beyer saved the day.

Sunderland’s Pierre Ekwah, making his first start, created the first chance of the game, a volley on the edge of the box which he deflected wide.

It took the leaders 27 minutes to create something noteworthy. They forced a corner and when it was half clear, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who was playing for the first time in almost three months after his injury, fired. Goalie Anthony Patterson rose to the occasion with a strong hand.

Sunderland didn’t see much of the ball, but threw a punch on the counter-attack. When Josh Cullen was robbed in midfield, Roberts cut inside from the right and fired a shot that could have slipped in and required a save from Arijanet Muric.

From the corner Dan Neil fired through a crowd of bodies but straight at the grateful Muric.

Burnley had several more gears to find. Nathan Tella wanted a penalty, amplified by the Turf Moor regulars, when Neil brought him under control, but referee Jarred Gillett was not fooled.

Five minutes before half time, a hitherto subdued Ashley Barnes found himself suddenly free inside the Sunderland box after a clever over-the-shoulder pass from Josh Brownhill.

Barnes had time but his attempt to take out the top corner with his side foot but had too much lift and cleared the bar.

Brownhill then exchanged passes with Manuel Benson before seeing his shot deflected high by Lynden Gooch’s flying block.

Tony Mowbray’s wards rallied with renewed vigor after the break, with Roberts turning and turning before firing straight at Muric.

As the Lancaster drizzle fell, Burnley tried to find some prowess in their game. Tella’s tame low shot was never going to bother Patterson.

Barnes was the man at the end of a clever one-touch move involving Tella and Anass Zaroury, but he jumped at the chance when the packed house under the lights on Friday night tried to rally them.

Instead it was Sunderland who came closest to winning it only to settle for a draw.