At last the first away point

Last updated : 08 November 2009 By Tony Scholes
Steven Caldwell
Steven Caldwell - Man of the Match
Maybe the expectation levels have been reduced when we are on our travels given some of the away results this season but our end of the ground simply lifted as we finally got our first, and very much fully deserved, point on our travels.

The fact that we'd surrendered a 2-0 lead had long been forgotten once Kevin McDonald, on as a substitute, hit home the late equaliser, and from that moment on it was pandemonium in the away end as our fans prepared to salute the players after an astonishing performance against all the odds.

The season so far has been a bit of a struggle away from home, we've given goals away too easily and until the previous away game hadn't managed a solitary goal. Here again we were up against one of the teams right up near the top of the league and at a ground where only Woy's Fulham have taken any points this year.

It was good to be back on the road again, allowed to make our own way to a game, and after a lunch stop in Bury we were soon outside the City of Manchester Stadium at Eastlands for what would be Burnley's first ever game at the former Commonwealth Games venue.

I'd never been inside before and I had to say I was impressed. Someone should have taken a look at something like this before designing the Emirates. This is a football ground and is as good as any league ground I've been in.

Owen Coyle had said on Thursday that it was the same squad and it was no surprise that, with no late injuries, he named the same starting eleven and the same substitutes as last week when we beat Hull.

There was some surprise amongst Burnley fans that we came out in white shirts, but this was because of the shades of blue on the two home shirts. The Premier League only allows for a change if there's a clash and just a few weeks ago the reserves had played just across the road in the white shirts, black shorts with the claret and blue hooped socks.

The teams were led out by members of the armed forces ahead of Remembrance Sunday and it was announced there would be a minute's silence. What was held of it was observed immaculately by those inside the stadium although strangely it was brought to an abrupt halt long before a minute had passed.

From the start City might have got a goal within the first minute as Shaun Wright-Phillips got in a shot from an angle after brushing off Robbie Blake. It was clear almost immediately that he was one of the players we'd have to keep a keen eye on but Stephen Jordan, a former team mate at City, marshalled him well throughout the game.

The first couple of minutes were worrying, but then we really started to play some good football and it was good to see the ball down the far end of the pitch more often than it was at our end.

Clarke Carlisle attempted an overhead kick and Robbie Blake almost turned in a Graham Alexander free kick as the Clarets got on top. Then came the first magical moment. Chris Eagles played the ball to Tyrone Mears down the right wing and the full back's cross was met by the hand of Joleon Lescott.

The assistant nearly took off so vociferous was his flag waving before he placed it across his chest. Referee Attwell, who hadn't seen anything, pointed to the spot. Now at this stage it must have been clear to all those around that Lescott is not the most intelligent as he incredibly had to ask why the penalty had been given.

Given did I say, well he'd no chance of saving it as Alexander placed it firmly right into the bottom corner to Shay's right and Burnley were 1-0 up with what was our first league goal at Manchester City since Martin Dobson scored in a 1-1 draw at Maine Road forty years ago.

If that was good then it got a whole lot better just past the half hour. Andre Bikey forced a good save out of Given following a free kick and as City came away with the ball Wade Elliott got in well to win it back for us.

The ball fell for Robbie who played it out for Eagles on the right. Steven Fletcher spotted the opportunity and as he made his move the ball across from Eagles was just about perfect. It left Fletcher with the simplest of tasks to score from close range to double the lead.

"Can we declare?" someone behind asked. It was a fair point, well made, but we'd still a difficult game on our hands I thought although there could be no denying we were worth that lead.

And who knows what might have happened had we been able to take that two goal lead in with us at half time. Unfortunately City pulled one back just a couple of minutes before the break and how unlucky were we?

Wright-Phillips got it with a shot from the edge of the box but he had two big strokes of good fortune. Firstly, he was lucky to get the ball back from a ricochet off Robbie and then his shot caught Jordan's boot and deflected in past Jensen who'd only had one real save to make in prior to that.

Surely it would give City a lift, and it did. With less than a quarter of an hour gone in the second half we were behind and in truth it looked as though another away game was running away from us.

The equaliser was a nonsense. Referee Attwell, who at best could be described as eccentric, gave us a free kick and then changed his mind and gave it the other way. Only he will know what he gave and why but from that free kick their two central defenders, Lescott and Kolo Toure linked for the latter to hit home.

Then three minutes later the ball was played inside Jordan for Wright-Phillips and his low cross was met by Craig Bellamy. From two goals up we were behind and given the story of this season away from home it was difficult to be hopeful.

Almost immediately Coyle replaced Bikey and Blake with McDonald and Joey Gudjonsson but for me it was the third substitution almost ten minutes later that changed things when David Nugent came on for Eagles.

Nugent, with his aggression and running, lifted things and from looking down and out, we were fighting our way back into the game. We had a couple of attacks that didn't quite bring us a clear cut chance but then we had the big moment three minutes from time.

Jensen kicked the ball long down our right hand side where England left back Bridge and Nugent went for it. Nugent came off best and played a delightful ball across to Fletcher on the near post.

It really was a good ball but it was more than matched by the superb cushion header from Fletcher and then the finish from McDonald. I had the perfect view of it and McDonald had very little to aim at with that shot and the ball came to him at a bad height, but he made absolutely no mistake.

The cries from the stand were for a winner but I was more than happy with this and when that final whistle blew after four minutes of stoppage time I can confirm that just about every Burnley fan inside that ground was just as happy.

It might not have been a celebration to match Wembley, and you wouldn't expect it, but in the end we battled back for a point against the odds and as I looked across and down at the Burnley fans it really did remind me of Stamford Bridge.

It's such a significant point, our first in the top flight on the road since 1976. We needed this so much and I'm sure it will give everyone a lift for the away games to come.

Looking at some of the individual performances I have to single out Steven Fletcher for some special praise. His contribution to the second and third goals showed him to be a very good Premier League striker in the making. What a difference we've seen from him since he moved into the middle.

But despite conceding three goals I have to look at the back four again for the man of the match. Let's remember they were up against the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy and look at how much that foursome cost City.

It's difficult to single one of them out but my choice is Steven Caldwell. He had a difficult game against Wigan perhaps but he's come back with two really good performances now.

But well done to all fourteen players yesterday, this was a difficult test and we came out with flying colours and that vital point. And you've all given me, and not far short of another 3,000 Burnley fans, another superb day out.

The teams were;

Manchester City: Shay Given, Pablo Zabaleta, Kolo Toure, Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stephen Ireland, Gareth Barry, Craig Bellamy, Carlos Tevez (Martin Petrov 73), Emmanuel Adebayor. Subs not used: Stuart Taylor, Micah Richards, Nigel de Jong, Vladimir Weiss, Michael Johnson, Roque Santa Cruz.
Yellow Cards: Craig Bellamy.

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Andre Bikey (Kevin McDonald 62), Chris Eagles (David Nugent 71), Wade Elliott, Robbie Blake (Joey Gudjonsson 62), Steven Fletcher. Subs not used: Diego Penny, Michael Duff, Fernando Guerrero, Steven Thompson.
Yellow Cards: Andre Bikey, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle.

Referee: Stuart Attwell (Nuneaton).

Attendance: 47,205.