Brighton 1-1 Burnley: Clarets show resolve to claim hard-earned point in fight against relegation

Vincent Kompany’s men took the lead on the stroke of half-time thanks to Wilson Odobert, the man who stepped into the shoes of the injured Luca Koleosho.

But the hosts levelled things up in the second-half through Simon Adingra and had chance after chance to claim a late win, but the Clarets held on to end their four-game losing streak on the road.

Trafford must have ended up making seven or eight stupendous saves, with at least three of them coming during the dying moments of the game as Brighton laid siege to the Burnley goal.

Kompany opted to make three changes to the Burnley side that lost 1-0 to Wolves in midweek, with one of those being forced upon him.

Luca Koleosho suffered a serious knee injury at Molineux, a setback that is likely to keep him out for a number of months.

Hjalmar Ekdal and Jacob Bruun Larsen were the other two to drop out of the side, with the returning Jordan Beyer - who has now served his one-match ban - Johann Gudmundsson and Wilson Odobert the three to come in.

Jack Cork and Josh Cullen remain sidelined, while Lyle Foster is still unavailable due to receiving specialist care for his mental wellbeing.

As for Brighton, Bart Verbruggen, a summer target for the Clarets, started in goal as Roberto De Zerbi made six changes from their midweek win against Brentford.

While the Seagulls dominated the ball during the opening stages, it was Burnley who looked the more threatening with the young Odobert looking especially lively.

The first chance of the afternoon came on the other flank though, with Johann Gudmundsson curling just wide after being teed up by Sander Berge.

Gudmundsson almost turned provider when Zeki Amdouni exchanged a quick give and go with the winger, but on this occasion Amdouni’s effort was too close to the keeper who made a comfortable save.

At the other end, Charlie Taylor was required to make an important interception at the back post to deny Simon Adingra, who would otherwise have had a simple tap in.

All of Burnley’s promising early work was almost undone just before the half hour mark when Pascal Gross was left completely unmarked at the back post, but thankfully for the Clarets James Trafford came to their rescue, denying the Brighton man with his feet.

Brighton began to take over as the half drew to a close and came close to taking the lead three in quick succession.

The first opportunity was gifted to the hosts by Vitinho, who inexplicably gave the ball away in his own half. But Trafford came to his aid with an important stop at his near post.

Defender Jan Paul van Hecke then headed inches wide before Mahmoud Dahoud drove a powerful effort just over the bar.

After a promising first-half display on Tuesday night against Wolves, the Clarets conceded right on the stroke of half-time.

But on this occasion, it was Burnley who got their noses in front following a moment of brilliance from the energetic Odobert.

The winger was picked out in space down the left flank and he cut inside before unleashing a powerful drive that took a slight deflection, which resulted in the ball looping up and over the despairing dive of Verbruggen.

The late goal forced De Zerbi into action at the break, the Brighton boss making two changes with Billy Gilmour and Kaoru Mitoma coming off the bench.

But it was Burnley who almost doubled their lead four minutes into the second period, with Odobert again involved in the thick of it.

The 19-year-old beat James Milner down the left and saw his low cross palmed away by Verbruggen straight to Jay Rodriguez, whose shot hit the goalkeeper who was sprawled on the ground and knew very little about it.

Brighton hit back with another spell of pressure, with Mitoma heavily involved down the left, but the Clarets always retained a threat on the break.

Kompany made his first change just before the hour mark, replacing Gudmundsson with Aaron Ramsey.

It appeared Ramsey’s main task was to put pressure on Mitoma and do a job defensively, given the substitute was beginning to have more and more of an influence.

Mitoma was, however, left alone following one Brighton move which resulted in the Japanese international curling a clever first-time effort towards Trafford’s top corner, but fortunately it curled just over.

Burnley were given another major let-off in the following minute when the unmarked Evan Ferguson somehow managed to head wide from just six yards out.

With Burnley momentarily down to 10 men as Ramsey received treatment, the hosts nearly got themselves back on level terms but once again Trafford came to their rescue, making himself tall to deny Adingra.

Trafford was unable to deny Adingra on the next occasion though, as Brighton finally broke Burnley’s resistance.

It was a fairly routine goal for the hosts to score, with a deep cross being headed by Adingra across Trafford and into the far corner.

Predictably it was one-way traffic during the final stages as Brighton sensed a late winner, albeit the Clarets did briefly threaten on the counter when two subs nearly combined, with Connor Roberts inches away from reaching Nathan Redmond’s clever pass into the centre.

Burnley’s five subs saw them line up with a back four for the final exchanges, with Redmond leading the line.

With EIGHT minutes of time being added on, the Seagulls continued to lay siege to the Burnley goal - with Trafford again producing a big save following a goalmouth scramble before Facundo Buonanotte headed wastefully over.

The tidal wave of home pressure almost paid off deep into stoppage time when Jack Hinshelwood headed towards the top corner. But guess what? Trafford made another stupendous stop to keep his side level.

Trafford still had time to make one last save, this time tipping Mitoma’s effort over the bar to earn Burnley a big point.

TEAMS

Brighton: Verbruggen, Dunk (Buonanotte), Gross, Milner (Hinshelwood), Lallana (Mitoma), Baleba (Igor), Dahoud (Gilmour), Adingra, van Hecke, Pedro, Ferguson

Subs not used: Steele, Moder, Baker-Boaitey, O’Mahony

Burnley: Trafford, Vitinho, O’Shea, Beyer, Taylor, Brownhill, Berge, Gudmundsson (Ramsey, Roberts), Odobert (Tresor), Amdouni (Ekdal), Rodriguez (Redmond)

Subs not used: Muric, Massengo, Bruun Larsen, Zaroury

Referee: Simon Hooper