Burnley miss out on top spot after Birmingham hit back for draw

Posted Thursday, October 20, 2022 by PA

Burnley missed the chance to regain top spot in the Sky Bet Championship after they were held to a 1-1 draw by a resolute Birmingham at St Andrew’s.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson handed the Clarets a 74th-minute lead just four minutes after coming off the bench.

But Scott Hogan equalised just six minutes later to give John Eustace’s side a deserved point.

The point for Vincent Kompany’s side was not enough for them to retrieve pole position but it extended their unbeaten run to 12 league games.

There were chances for both sides as the teams tested each other’s resolve.

Burnley threatened first when centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis sent a looping header wide from a deep cross.

Auston Trusty – who scored twice from set-plays in Birmingham’s 3-0 home win over Bristol City last time out – got to Tahith Chong’s free-kick fractionally before goalkeeper Arijanet Muric only to nod just wide.

Burnley striker Nathan Tella curled wide after taking on Trusty before the visitors went even closer when Jay Rodriguez’s flick hit the post from 12 yards after Josh Brownhill crossed.

The Clarets had another chance when left-back Vitinho was found unmarked but he sliced high and wide from just inside the box after another cross from the right, this time from Connor Roberts.

But Birmingham forced the only real save of the first half. Hogan and Troy Deeney combined to slip in Maxime Colin, whose poke towards goal was smuggled behind by Muric.

Birmingham had the first opportunity of the second half when Krystian Bielik unleashed a full-blooded volley that would have given Muric no chance had it not dropped a few feet wide, from Chong’s corner.

Burnley appealed for a penalty when Anass Zaroury went sprawling to the ground after chasing down a long ball from defence. But referee Dean Whitestone instead booked the forward for diving.

Blues were next to pose a threat when Hogan’s header deflected wide off Harwood-Bellis after Deeney’s deep cross.

Substitute Gudmundsson broke the deadlock just four minutes after coming on.

The Iceland international midfielder won a tussle with Emmanuel Longelo and bent a lovely curling, left-footed shot beyond John Ruddy into the bottom corner for his first goal of the season.

But Hogan levelled on 80 minutes when he steered home George Hall’s cross at the near post for his sixth goal of the season.

Hogan went close to a second goal when his left-wing cross clipped the angle of post and bar on 87 minutes.