James Trafford is a very confident man, unworried about situations nor opponents, as Wilson Isidor found out to his cost. The goalkeeper made two almost identical saves from late penalties to ensure Burnley were not leapfrogged by Sunderland.
The goalkeeper’s prowess ensured the rest of the Burnley performance was forgotten as they attempt to grind their way to the Premier League. They still sit second, having failed to overtake Leeds to go top of the table, but have scored a solitary goal in their past four league matches, including three goalless draws.
“This is a special keeper,” Burnley’s manager, Scott Parker, said. “This is a boy with huge, huge potential and I think you can see that. He’s confident, believes in himself and to get to the top, top level you need to have that certain belief and at times certain arrogance and Traff’s got that and he backs it up with what he does in between the two posts. The spotlight shone on him in the first occasion, the spotlight shone on him in the second occasion and I got the impression that Traff loved every bit of that.”
Until the 84th minute the game bordered on being forgettable but it was ignited when Isidor got the wrong side of CJ Egan-Riley. The defender put his hand in the vicinity of the striker’s shoulder and that was enough to send him to the ground. Any potential touch would have been outside the area but the referee, Anthony Backhouse, was convinced it merited a penalty. “I knew it was [outside the box – the foul for the first penalty],” Egan-Riley told Sky Sports.
The former Manchester City goalkeeper is used to such heroics, saving a 98th-minute spot-kick in 2023 to help England lift the European Under‑21 Championship. He had a cunning plan to delay the penalty kicks and leave Isidor looking at the ball on the spot for as long as possible, tying his laces and a prolonged stretching of his hamstring for the second.
The tactics worked as Isidor went for power but Trafford moved to his right and repelled his fierce shots. Turf Moor was relieved and happy to settle for the point but that was not the end of the action in the Burnley penalty area. Debutant Oliver Sonne did not make the best impression on the crowd when he was adjudged to have taken down Dennis Cirkin in the box in the 97th minute.
Nerves abounded inside Turf Moor, except on the goalline where Trafford finally took his place, stared down Isidor and stopped an identical penalty. The crowd roared once more and the chants about their heroic goalkeeper did not finish until long after the final whistle. It was Trafford’s 17th clean sheet of the season and ensured his team have conceded a mere nine goals in 27 matches, leading Parker to admit it felt like a win.
Asked how Isidor was, Régis Le Bris said: “Disappointed, like the team, but football is like that, you have to make decisions, you can make mistakes, and in the end you have to assume and learn from these mistakes because it’s the best way to improve, it’s the best way to grow. Our team is still young, we are facing different experiences, and we are learning from these experiences, and this one will be very useful for sure. You talked about Ussi’s character, and he had that spell of games, not scoring, and he showed it again by taking the second penalty after missing the first.”
after newsletter promotion
Prior to the late flurry of activity, a goalless draw appeared inevitable but at least there were some memorable moments to take away. It was the only time Trafford was called into action, while the Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson made one save of note from Jaidon Anthony in the first half as Burnley struggled to pose any degree of threat for the vast majority of the match despite dominating possession.
Sunderland are fourth in the table and it seems that if either side are to galvanise their push for promotion, they need to sharpen up in the final third or risk losing everything the players are working so hard for.
