Burnley held by Middlesbrough in Championship stalemate

LONDON: Connor Roberts earned Burnley a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough on Friday to leave the home side one point off English Championship leaders Sheffield United.

The Welshman bent in a shot from 25 yards in the 37th minute, but Burnley needed that to cancel out Anfernee Dijksteel´s 13th-minute opener on a night when Turf Moor was battered by wind and rain.

Sheffield United have a chance to extend their lead when they travel to West Brom on Sunday.

Middlesbrough stayed fifth. Burnley came into the match on the back of five straight clean sheets but, given Boro´s record of 13 goals in their last three away games, it was perhaps no surprise that run did not last.

What was surprising was how easy it appeared to breach Burnley´s defence for the first time in 501 minutes.

Dijksteel burst down the right to start the move and was there to end it as he latched on to Dan Barlaser´s pass, breaking into the box and prodding the ball over James Trafford for his first Championship goal.

With swirling winds, the precursor to Storm Darragh, blowing spare balls on to the pitch, Burnley deservedly levelled eight minutes before half-time, perhaps with help from the conditions.

Roberts played three one-twos, the last with Josh Brownhill, before hitting a shot from 25 yards which caught out a flat-footed Seny Dieng as it looped into the net. It was Roberts´ first Burnley goal since April 2023 after he spent the second half of last season with Leeds.