The center forwards did their jobs once each as Chris Wood and Patrick Bamford traded in-tight goals in Burnley’s 1-1 draw with Leeds at Turf Moor on Sunday.
The draw means neither team has a win through three Premier League matches, with Leeds in 15th with two points and Burnley in 16th with one.
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Leeds hosts Liverpool after the international break while Burnley will visit Everton, so a win here would’ve been nice for either side.
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Three things we learned from Burnley vs Leeds
1. A very Burnley day, drawing after dodging red card: Everyone knows Leeds wants the ball and is willing to play scrappy, so Sean Dyche’s men were happy to take the visitors up on an offer to fight for 90 minutes at Turf Moor. The referees, however, decided that leniency was the key and that helped the first half descend into mayhem as both teams (but mostly Burnley) collected cards and could’ve seen a man sent off.
And supporters of every Premier League clubs has probably, at some point in their careers, howled at the screen, "[Expletive] Burnley! They’ve scored and thy should’ve had a man sent off!” That was Sunday. And Burnley won’t care too much about it, except the note about Leeds getting a fairly-deserved equalizer.
BAMFORD SCORES ON BURNLEY #BURLEE
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 29, 2021
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2. “Wedding Crashers” goal is 30,000 for Premier League: There’s a line in early 2000s comedy “Wedding Crashers” where a trash-talking character turns to an opponent and screams, “Yes! Crab cakes and football, that’s what Maryland does!” It’s far too easy to imagine Ashley Barnes turning to some member of Leeds and howling, “Yes! Harsh tackles and scruffy goals, that’s what Burnley does!”
3. Ashley Barnes is the biggest villain in the league: Name a player who’s been in more Premier League skirmishes in the past decade. Maybe you didn’t see Ashley Barnes, so let’s phrase the trivia. Name a player who’s been in more Premier League skirmishes in the past decade since Diego Costa left Chelsea. Yep, it’s Ashley Barnes, and the forward had no business staying in the match after an abhorrent challenge in the first half. You know when you’re playing and a player’s been in a challenge, didn’t get the call, and you just know that they are going to clobber the next person they see? We should call that an “Ashley Barnes.”
Man of the Match: Chris Wood
It’s either one of the goal scorers or Burnley’s Dwight McNeil, but we really liked the effort of Wood. The Kiwi forward caused consternation on a chance Illan Meslier should’ve saved on a day he managed three shots and three key passes.
DELIRIUM as Chris Wood scores the Premier League’s 30,000th goal! ⚽️ #BURLEE
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 29, 2021
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Burnley vs Leeds recap
This match was nasty, and not the good kind of nasty.
Burnley’s Ashley Barnes was fortunate to only see a yellow card for an egregious airborne challenge in the Leeds box, and the combustible forward was the focus of much of the half’s tempest.
Ben Mee would later see yellow for a cleated challenge.
The offensive moments came mostly on Burnley corners and a tepid Patrick Bamford bid at Clarets keeper Nick Pope.
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Burnley went ahead on a chaotic sequence that saw Wood get the slightest touch on a shot to make Meslier look silly on his goal line. He’ll still want that back.
But Leeds denied Burnley the three points when Bamford turned a seeing-eye shot into the goal after Raphinha and Rodrigo came to life late. Even when Raphinha has an off-game, he can make things happen for Leeds.