It was a frustrating night at Molineux as Wolves were unable to break down a Burnley side who looked happy to sit deep and take a point.
The hosts had the overwhelming majority of possession and more than double the amount of chances of the Clarets, but try as they might, the men in gold and black could not put the ball in the back of the net, and had to settle for a second goalless draw on the bounce.
Bruno Lage was enforced into a change from the side which drew with Norwich four days earlier, as Ruben Neves’ booking in that game made it five for the season and a one-game suspension, meaning Leander Dendoncker came into the line-up.
The other change saw Adama Traore replace Francisco Trincao, and it was the Spaniard who was in the thick of the action early on, as Wolves looked for the pace of the winger to get behind the Burnley defence. Clarets defender Ben Mee picked up an early booking for taking out Traore when he looked away down the right.
Unsurprisingly when facing Burnley, most of the efforts in the first-half were coming from the air, and both sides had opportunities to open the scoring, with Dendoncker jumping highest in the Burnley box to direct a Nelson Semedo cross goalwards, but it was an comfortable catch for England goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Chris Wood, who is looking for his ninth goal in his 14th outing against Wolves – the most the striker has against any other side – came closest for the visitors when he headed wide of the target but was then flagged for offside.
Tempers flared inside the opening 20 minutes when Hee Chan Hwang took an elbow from Matthew Lowton when the pair jumped for a ball, and the South Korean reacted with a push on the Burnley full-back, earning both players a yellow card. Moments later Hwang let fly from distance, but it was a comfortable stop for Pope.
The best chance of the opening half fell to the boot of Traore. From a Burnley corner, Wolves broke free and were two on one with the Spaniard having Raul Jimenez in attendance, and with the Mexican clear in space, Traore instead chose to go alone and smashed his effort from the edge of the box off the underside of the crossbar.
Half-time | Wolves 0-0 Burnley
Just as it was at the start of the first 45 minutes, the second-half began with Traore causing a nuisance in the opposition side of the pitch, but even though the winger found himself in a good position inside the Burnley box, he lost his footing at the crucial moment and the chance went begging.
Hwang was appealing for a penalty moments later when he felt he was clipped by Nathan Collins inside the box when he was surrounded by the white shirts of Burnley as he tried to go for goal, but referee John Brooks was unmoved.
Joao Moutinho got into the action just before the hour mark when he let fly from distance, but the midfielder’s effort was always rising over Pope’s crossbar. Semedo also attempted to get on the scoresheet as he tried his luck from outside the penalty area, but his shot, from a difficult angle, posed no trouble as it landed in the South Bank.
Wolves were having all the possession at Molineux but were struggling to break down Burnley’s stubborn two banks of four. That was until Traore caught out the Clarets on the break, using his skilful footwork to power through the white shirts and send a cross to Jimenez, but Burnley do enough to block out the Mexican.
Moments later, Hwang was played into space on the left and raced at the Burnley defence. He cut inside and fired a shot across goal, but Lowton was able to get his foot on the ball to turn it narrowly wide of the upright.
Burnley were growing in confidence as they kept the game goalless, and even had a chance of their own to open the scoring when Dwight McNeil found himself in space on the right side of the penalty area, but his shot at goal was pushed around the post by Jose Sa. At the other end, Traore aimed a low shot towards the far post, which brought a diving save out of Pope to push the ball wide.
Wolves continued to push for the opening goal as Burnley tried their hardest to waste time and slow the game down, and the hosts almost found the breakthrough late on as substitute Francisco Trincao played the ball to Traore on the edge of the box, but his effort appeared to roll off his shin and wide of the post, as Wolves had to settle for a frustrating point.
Full-time | Wolves 0-0 Burnley
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Coady, Saiss, Ait-Nouri, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Traore, Hwang (Trincao 84), Jimenez.
Unused subs | Ruddy, Moulden, Hoever, Bueno, Cundle, Campbell, Silva.
Burnley | Pope, Lowton, Collins, Mee, Taylor, Gudmundsson (Vydra 72), Cork, Brownhill, McNeil, Wood (Rodriguez 59), Cornet (Lennon 85).
Unused subs | Hennessey, Norris, Roberts, Long, Thomas, Pieters.
Referee | John Brooks
