Perhaps it was inevitable that a game broadcast by Sky Sports
box office would throw up the Premier League’s first goalless draw this season.. The match, available to watch on a pay-per-view channel, may have failed to live up to its teatime billing but Nick Pope made a string of superb saves to prevent West Bromwich Albion from earning their first win of the season and help Burnley stop the rot and claim their first point of the campaign. Karlan Grant also had a debut goal disallowed after straying offside.
This was not a blockbuster but Slaven Bilic was reasonably chirpy afterwards, encouraged by the way his side put their stamp on the game after persisting with a three-man midfield, handing the
Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher his
Premier League debut and Grant his first start since a protracted £15m move. But having leaked goals – West Brom had conceded 13 in their first four matches – it was at the other end where Bilic made wholesale changes, with the wily 36-year-old Branislav Ivanovic partnering Ahmed Hegazi in defence. If supporters, like Bilic, were heartened by a much-improved performance, West Brom’s next two matches, trips to Brighton and then Fulham, being on consecutive Mondays and both £14.95 via PPV represents a kick in the teeth. “I think
Football should be affordable,” Bilic said. “I always used to say football is not polo, football is not
golf, football is sport for the masses. It is a working-class sport and it should be affordable to everybody.”