Burnley assistant manager Craig Bellamy refused to pin any blame on Aro Muric after a horrible mistake from the goalkeeper cost the relegation-battling Clarets in a 1-1 Premier League draw with Brighton.
Five minutes after Josh Brownhill’s opportunistic goal had given Burnley a late lead, Muric let a routine back pass from Sander Berge slip under his foot and in.
Muric has spent most of this season on the bench after Vincent Kompany signed James Trafford in the summer, but the Kosovan, a key part of Burnley’s promotion-winning side last term, dislodged the England Under-21 keeper in March, coinciding with an improvement in Burnley’s form.
And Bellamy, taking the place of Kompany who was serving a touchline ban, said the team had to take responsibility for the mistake because of the way they choose to play out from the back.
“It’s us,” Bellamy said. “It’s not his mistake, it’s our mistake. Do we call it a mistake? I don’t know. It’s how we play. It ain’t going to change. He’s scored goals for us, doing what he does. It’s one of those, it’s not an issue.
“It’s how we play football. It might not please everyone. We’re not here to please everyone, but we believe in this way of football. It might be naive, I don’t know.
“I have a three-year-old girl who still believes in rainbows and unicorns. That might be me. I honestly believe we’re going to get out of this situation, I believe we’re going to stay up. Maybe I’m naive. Maybe I’m the one believing in rainbows and unicorns and it’s actually got to my head.
“But at the same time, I’ve no issue with it. Aro is top. Get the ball again, look for the pass again. You see the save he makes in the last minute. Top. That to me is a goalkeeper. We all make mistakes, it’s how you respond from it. So I’ve got nothing but praise for him, even more.”
Burnley’s goal also came from a back pass, with Carlos Baleba under-hitting a ball to Bart Verbruggen and Brownhill racing after it, with the keeper’s clearance rebounding off him and into the net.
But the bigger frustration was with the chances Burnley missed earlier in the game, with opportunities for Jacob Bruun Larsen and David Fofana going begging – moments that would cost them by the end.
“We played well, especially in the first half,” Bellamy said. “We had good opportunities and should have scored. Coming in from the first half we were a little bit disappointed we weren’t 1-0 or 2-0 up, but that can be football.”
While Burnley rued two lost points, it was yet another draw for injury-hit Brighton – their 11th of the campaign, more than any other side.
Roberto De Zerbi began with the day without nine players through injury and lost Pervis Estupinan only 13 minutes in, leaving the manager to admit their hopes of returning to Europe next season are in peril as they sit 10th in the table.
“It was a fair result,” the Italian said. “For me, we didn’t deserve to win the game, but I think we didn’t deserve to lose the game. We suffered especially in the first 20 minutes, we suffered badly, but after that time, in the last 70 minutes we played a good game but not a great game.
“We are not in the right condition to play great games. In these moments we are suffering, we are spending tough moments, but we have to fight how we did, with pride, with our qualities.
“It is a tough moment, we have a lot of injuries. We are too many points from the high positions to reach our European target. I don’t know. Maybe it can happen.”
Shannon Cooke’s late equaliser earned West Ham a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa before their Women’s Super League survival was confirmed.The Hammers had the better of the chances in the first half, with Jess Ziu and Riko Ueki causing problems in particular, but Villa grew into the game after the break and took the lead when substitute Alisha Lehmann struck against her former club.But Cooke ...
Pep Guardiola believes “incredibly fortunate” Manchester City were aided by the dry state of the City Ground pitch in their 2-0 win over wasteful Nottingham Forest.City reeled in Premier League leaders Arsenal as goals from Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland at Forest reduced the gap to one point at the top with a game in hand, making themselves favourites for a fourth successive title....
Manchester City reeled Premier League leaders Arsenal back in with a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest as the title race heads towards a thrilling finale.The Gunners moved four points clear when they beat Tottenham in a frantic north London derby earlier on Sunday, but City immediately responded thanks to goals from Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland at the City Ground.Victory leaves them a point behind...
Brendan Rodgers hailed one of the “fathers” of Celtic’s recent success after James Forrest reproduced his vintage form with a match-winning double at Dens Park.The winger capitalised on a first start in five months to score both of Celtic’s goals in a 2-1 victory over Dundee, which kept them three points and five goals ahead of Rangers at the top of the cinch Premiership ta...
Bromley will take on Solihull Moors at Wembley next weekend for a place in the Football League after coming from behind to defeat Altrincham 3-1 in their National League play-off semi-final.Alty scored the only goal of the first half in the 31st minute when Regan Linney tucked away a close-range effort.But the game turned on its head in nine minutes shortly after half-time, with Myles Weston headi...
Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal’s frantic 3-2 derby win at Tottenham shows they are better equipped to win the Premier League this season – but warned his players not to get carried away.The Gunners had raced into a three-goal first-half lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal was added to by a Bukayo Saka strike and Kai Havertz header.The hosts ha...
James Forrest hit a double on his first start for five months as Celtic maintained their lead at the top of the cinch Premiership with a 2-1 victory at Dundee.Forrest was drafted in for only his fourth start of the season after coming off the bench to net in last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen.Such was Forrest’s influence at Hampden that manager Brendan Rodgers adm...
Andoni Iraola challenged his Bournemouth players to finish the season in style after they wrote themselves into Cherries history with a 3-0 win over Brighton.Iraola’s in-form side won the battle for south-coast supremacy thanks to goals from Marcos Senesi, Enes Unal and Justin Kluivert.Victory lifted Bournemouth into the top 10 and saw them break their record points haul in the top flight, s...
Let's start our 7M Daily Laugh today. PSG ARE LIGUE 1 CHAMPIONS AGAIN Tottenham 2-3 Arsenal BARCELONA WILL PLAY IN FOURTH CONSECUTIVE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL! The difference is clear It's just INSANE how this team never gives up, This is the True spirit of a champion. Florian Wirtz's reaction after yesterday's equaliser says it all, even the players don't believe what they are doing toget...
The 25-year-old footballer and OnlyFans model shared some snaps and a video of her holiday in Paris.Madelene Wright has stunned in a white corset while holidaying in ParisThe football star shared a snap of her classy outfitMadelene also posed for a mirror selfie in her fancy hotelMadelene stunned in a black dress on her Instagram story tooMadelene posed in a white corset and some grey jeans as she...
- 1 Stuart Attwell at the heart of the action again in Bournemouth’s win at Wolves
- 2 Pep Guardiola urges Manchester City to remain focused for title run-in
- 3 Everton move closer to safety after ruining Liverpool’s title pursuit
- 4 Odegaard's stunning Wag dances in stands while Arsenal batter Chelsea
- 5 Inside Jack Grealish and Sasha Attwood's sponsorships
- 6 Phil Foden brace helps Man City thump Brighton and close gap on leaders Arsenal
- 7 PSG consider €200m bid for Barca star Yamal
- 8 Barca join Arsenal in Isak transfer race
- 9 Pete Wild proud but frustrated as Barrow edged out of play-offs
- 10 Manchester City keep heat up on leaders Arsenal with win over wasteful Forest