Burnley 0 - 0 HuddersfieldBurnley and Huddersfield in stalemate as Wood fails to shake off Schindler
Burnley and Huddersfield ground out a dreary stalemate at Turf Moor but a point apiece kept both sides comfortably ahead of gloomy pre-season predictions.
The resulted appeared to hinge on whether or not the home side’s £15m striker Chris Wood could find a finish from a selection of half-chances but he was ultimately shackled by the Terriers’ exemplary centre-half Christopher Schindler.
It was, then, a triumph for the organisation and reliability that has taken two unfashionable clubs into the top half of the top flight, though the first top-flight meeting of these sides since 1971 is not an occasion many will revisit.
The first half was a largely clumsy affair, certainly in an attacking sense, as heavy touches, mis-hit passes and inherent conservatism dominated proceedings.
Schindler was an obvious standout, throwing his body at a couple of shots to spare Jonas Lossl the hassle, oozing authority and nipping in front of Wood to intercept Stephen Ward’s ball and snuff out a rare goalscoring chance.
When Wood did manage to break free of Schindler’s shackles to meet a Ward cross in the 23rd minute, a neat move involving Jack Cork and Scott Arfield, he glanced wide.
There were more fouls than genuinely incisive moments, most of which qualified as sloppy rather than tetchy, but Cork might have been flirting with a red card, rather than the resulting yellow, when he went over the ball and into Abdelhamid Sabiri.
Huddersfield’s only real attempt prior to the break saw Elias Kachunga spray high and wide from 25 yards but they bettered that within three minutes of the restart.
Cork was robbed in midfield, with Tom Ince racing from the halfway line and dribbling away from three Claret shirts before laying off to Laurent Depoitre in the box.
Burnley’s James Tarkowski, left, and Matthew Lowton react to Huddersfield Town’s Rajiv van La Parra going down in the box. Photograph: Ed Sykes/Action Images via Reuters
His shot was beaten back into the six-yard box by Nick Pope, with Ben Mee on hand to sweep up under pressure.
Burnley continued to attack most effectively down the left, Ward reaching the byline and picking out Wood at the near post. The New Zealander managed to negotiate a tricky angle and the attentions of Schindler to get a shot away but it was too soft to threaten Lossl.
Huddersfield found some semblance of order in the final third as the minutes passed, Ince lashing just wide from 20 yards and substitute Rajiv van La Parra also missing by a fine margin as he dragged one across Pope.
But the Dutchman was also guilty of some sharp practice when he tumbled to the floor in search of a penalty against Matt Lowton, who did not make contact.
Referee Christopher Kavanagh was not fooled and instead cautioned Van La Parra.
Wood managed one more shot at goal, his first from outside the area, but Lossl scooped the ball safely to preserve his fourth clean sheet of the campaign.
Guardian
