Match Review – Burnley 0-0 Brighton
If you’ve ever wanted to go back to the 19th century, then forget about building a time machine or trying to flag down Doctor Who for a ride in the TARDIS – just take a visit to Burnley.
We had racism and we had homophobia at Turf Moor. All that was missing for an authentic experience of the 1800s was somebody contracting polio, a load of kids being sent down a mine and a war with France.
The racism was directed at Gaetan Bong, who’s crime had been to report former Burnley player Jay Rodriguez for racially abusing him when we lost at West Bromwich Albion back in January.
Bong’s every touch was booed by the home faithful, who seemingly don’t think that a man should complain when somebody says to him “Your black and you stink”. Plenty of Burnley fans were desperate to point out that Rodriguez was innocent, which actually makes them thick as well as stupid. Rodriguez was not found innocent, there just wasn’t enough evidence to prove that what Bong said happened, happened. That doesn’t mean it didn’t – the only people who can possibly know are Rodriguez and Bong.
Either way, booing a man who dared to speak out after being taunted because of the colour of his skin suggests that they don’t think he should be speaking out. That in itself is racist and Burnley fans can dress it up however they like, but several thousand of them were effectively saying that Bong should just have accepted being told he smells because he is black.
Burnley fans have history for this sort of thing of course, with even their own players denouncing them for racism. Previously, ex-Clarets striker Andre Gray criticised the supporters after they racially abused a Bradford City player in 2016 while Aaron Lennon could be seen shaking his head as the abuse was directed at Bong.
It says much about Bong’s character that not only did he not let the booing effect him, but he actually had one of his best games of the season. Best of all though was the fact that he clapped the Burnley supporters as he made his way down to the tunnel at the end of the game. They must’ve loved that, being mocked by a man they consider inferior to them because of the colour of his skin.
As for the homophobia, well there was no dressing that up as anything other than homophobia. It’s actually been a while since the whole of a home crowd sung about all us Brighton fans being gay, which suggests that the FA’s campaign on homophobia is having some effect.
Not in that part of the world though, as thousands of home fans serenaded us with some very original songs about homosexuals. It must be a shit-town-in-north-west-England thing as the last time it happened was away at Blackburn. Whether the FA do anything about it remains to be seen, but nobody could’ve mistaken the hate based on a person’s sexuality from the locals.
Onto footballing matters and on the pitch, this was a brilliant point for the Albion. Turf Moor is one of the toughest places to come in the Premier League so to come away with another point towards survival against a side who will be playing in Europe next season was hugely impressive.
It was based on the sort of solid defensive display we were consistently turning in on the road in January and February but which had gone missing a little bit in defeats at Everton and Crystal Palace in our last two away league games.
There was little in the way of clear cut chances for either side, Burnley having two penalty appeals turned down which would have been harsh had they be given against Bruno and Shane Duffy while there was one almighty goalmouth scramble – cue the Benny Hill music – when a Johann Berg Gudmondson free kick hit Bruno, Bong put in a couple of blocks from Jack Cork, Maty Ryan somehow reached behind him to scoop the ball off the goal line, James Tarkowski back heeled it back into the box where Kevin Long stuck out a leg to divert it into the post and into Lewis Dunk who was fortunate to see it bounce off him and out for a corner rather than own goal number five of the season.
Going forward, the Albion didn’t offer much with Leonardo Ulloa not really taking the opportunity afforded to him as Chris Hughton rotated his strikers for the first time in months. The blank makes it only nine goals in 17 away games this season, which is one obvious area for improvement if we are still in the Premier League next season.
That looks increasingly likely. Southampton beating Plucky Little Bournemouth means the gap to the relegation zone is cut to five points with three games remaining and the bookies now have us priced as big as 50-1 to be relegated, suggesting they think we are as good as safe. They rarely get things wrong.
Hughton and the players won’t be thinking that way until it is mathematically impossible for us to finish in the bottom three, especially given last seasons Championship title cock up, but it would take a serious change in fortune for at least four teams below us in order for the Albion to go down now.
That means we will achieve exactly what the club set out to do at the start of the season, which was finishing 17th or above in the Premier League. We can probably start looking forward to visiting the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs again next season, as well as ensuring we’ve been vaccinated against tuberculosis, booked travel via horse and carriage and for another trip to the 19th century at Turf Moor.
Can’t wait.
