Aston Villa 0 Burnley 0 - Report

Dean Smith’s men are now winless in four Premier League matches on their own turf, though lord only knows how after this most immensely frustrating of evenings.

Despite registering 27 attempts on goal, they could not find a way past Burnley and were forced to settle for their first draw of the season.

Villa hit the woodwork, twice, while there were periods of the second half when Clarets goalkeeper Nick Pope would have been forgiven for thinking he was in the middle of a personal training session. But the breakthrough just never arrived, with Villa not seriously testing the shot-stopper nearly enough.

This was an impressive performance all the same, considering Smith was missing several key players in what was the biggest test of Villa’s strength in depth so far this season.

Already missing Douglas Luiz and Matty Cash through suspension and Trezeguet to injury, Smith also lost Ezri Konsa to illness prior to kick-off.

With Ross Barkley still not fully recovered from a hamstring injury, it meant Villa were without five players from what is currently considered their strongest XI.

The multiple absentees meant first Premier League starts of the season for Kortney Hause, Ahmed Elmohamady, Marvelous Nakamba and last Saturday’s match-winner Anwar El Ghazi.

Nakamba and Hause in particular performed admirably though El Ghazi, despite plenty of willing running, wasted numerous excellent chances. So too did Bertrand Traore with Jack Grealish, otherwise outstanding in a central role, on occasion guilty of not being greedy enough.

Villa set the tone for the evening with a bright start. Both Grealish and Ollie Watkins saw early shots blocked before Traore fired wide from outside the area after a corner was cleared into his path.

Watkins was doing a good job of winning the ball in advanced areas and at one stage whipped in a cross which required a hand from Pope to keep it out of the reach of Grealish.

The hosts, perhaps unsurprisingly, weren’t entirely in sync, with Tyrone Mings unintentionally blocking a shot from El Ghazi after his team-mate had showed quick feet to fashion space on the edge of the box.

Burnley were content to sit back in the early stages but when they did come forward looked menacing, former Villa man Ashley Westwood curling an effort just wide from the edge of the box after a bursting run through the middle by Dwight McNeil.

Both teams then registered their first efforts on target within a minute of each other. First Traore couldn’t arrange his feet in time after being picked out by El Ghazi at the far post, allowing Charlie Taylor to dive in and block his shot.

Burnley immediately broke away but when Chris Wood rose at the far post to meet Robbie Brady’s cross, Emi Martinez was equal to the header, clawing the ball away to safety. It was to prove the goalkeeper’s only serious work of the evening.

Former Albion striker Jay Rodriguez was then unable to pick out the run of McNeil after getting away down the right wing as the visitors grew in confidence.

It was Villa, however, who began to move through the gears as half-time approached.

First Matt Lowton was in the right place to clear off the line after an Elmohamady volley had taken a series of deflections, the last off Watkins.

Pope then brilliantly denied El Ghazi by getting the faintest of touches to turn the Villa man’s 25-yard free-kick onto the bar.

Minutes later, Villa would hit the woodwork again, this time Hause sending a header off the post after Elmohamady had got the first touch on an inswinging Traore corner.

By the time referee Craig Pawson blew up for the break, Villa had registered 16 attempts on goal, the most by any side in a first-half without scoring for more than a year.

Chances continued to arrive early in the second half. Grealish played in Traore on the right of the box after a bursting run but the Burkina Faso international opted to pass rather than shoot and saw the chance lost. Pope was then down quickly to save a Watkins header before watching relieved as a powerful El Ghazi drive flew just wide of the post.

The winger, bristling with confidence, saw another effort deflected up and over the bar after he had cut inside and shot after being picked out by an excellent Grealish pass.

Burnley were offering little, with a Rodriguez shot from outside the box which whistled over the bar a rare attempt.

But Villa almost offered up a gift when Martinez, under pressure from substitute Ashley Barnes, fired a clearance straight at Nakamba and the ball rebounded into the path of the Burnley striker. Fortunately for the hosts, Hause was alert to the danger and was able to win the ball back after getting in between Barnes and the goal.

Still the breakthrough wouldn’t come for Villa. Grealish hit a firm shot into the side-netting, before Traore saw an effort blocked by a diving James Tarkowski in his last action before being replaced by Keinan Davis.

In the final 10 minutes, Mings headed wide from Elmohamady’s cross, before the last chance fell to Grealish. Picking the ball up on the left flank, he evaded two tackles before advancing to the edge of the box and sending a shot a foot or so over the bar. This was a night when he and Villa had everything but the finish.

Teams Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez, Elmohamady, Hause, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Nakamba, El Ghazi, Traore (Davis 80), Grealish, Watkins Subs not used: Guilbert, Taylor, Engels, Ramsey, Hourihane, Steer (gk).

Burnley (4-4-2): Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Brady (Pieters 90+1), Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil, Rodriguez (Barnes 65), Wood (Vydra 82) Subs not used: Bardsley, Long, Benson, Peacock-Farrell (gk).