A well-placed shot from Connor Roberts was insufficient to propel Burnley to the summit of the Championship as they were forced to settle for a draw against Middlesbrough. The Welsh midfielder curled in a strike from 25 yards out in the 37th minute, yet Burnley required that goal to counterbalance Anfernee Dijksteel’s 13th-minute opener on a night when Turf Moor endured fierce winds and rain. Ultimately, the two teams, managed by former England teammates Scott Parker and Michael Carrick, could not be distinguished as Burnley remained a point behind Sheffield United, who are set to face West Brom on Sunday, while Middlesbrough retained their position in fifth place. Burnley entered the match having secured five consecutive clean sheets, but given Middlesbrough’s impressive tally of 13 goals in their last three away games, it was unsurprising that this streak was broken. What was unexpected was how effortlessly Middlesbrough breached Burnley’s defense for the first time in 501 minutes. Dijksteel initiated the move by sprinting down the right flank and completed it when Bashir Humphreys failed to mark him, allowing him to latch onto Dan Barlaser’s pass, break into the box, and prod the ball past James Trafford for his maiden Championship goal. Burnley quickly regrouped, and it took a sharp reaction from Middlesbrough goalkeeper Seny Dieng to tip Josh Cullen’s shot over the bar after a deflected effort off Dael Fry. Amid swirling winds, a prelude to Storm Darragh, Burnley maintained pressure as Jeremy Sarmiento attempted to guide a shot that Dieng pushed into the side-netting. The home side deservedly equalized eight minutes before halftime, possibly aided by the adverse conditions. Roberts executed three one-twos, the last with Josh Brownhill, before firing a shot from 25 yards that deceived Dieng, looping over him and into the net, marking Roberts’s first Burnley goal since April 2023 after his stint with Leeds in the latter half of last season. The second half began with Middlesbrough in control. George Edmundson narrowly missed the target from Barlaser’s free-kick, and Delano Burgzorg shot straight at Trafford from the center of the area. The introduction of substitutes Zian Flemming and Hannibal Mejbri injected fresh energy into Burnley, but Hannibal squandered a golden opportunity in the 68th minute by opting to go solo when Jaidon Anthony was unmarked and calling for the ball. Middlesbrough’s substitute Emmanuel Latte Lath then exploited the offside trap to receive Finn Azaz’s pass, and Trafford had to be precise to nudge the ball away from the Ivorian on the edge of the box. Anthony then bent a shot wide from the edge of the box before Roberts missed a close-range chance following a corner, resulting in a stalemate.
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