ANWAR EL GHAZI’S shooting boots deserted him as Burnley rode their luck to a precious point.
The Dutchman was the hero at the weekend when he came off the bench to down Wolves with a last-gasp penalty.
But he wasted no fewer than EIGHT shots here as Villa missed the chance to move into the top ten.
The stalemate saw Sean Dyche’s improving side rack up their fourth clean sheet in six games and jump out of the relegation zone.
Chris Wood headed an early chance straight at Emi Martinez, but after that it was pretty much all one-way traffic.
Ollie Watkins, a former Burnley target, almost inadvertently turned in the opener when Ahmed Elmohamady’s shot deflected off him.
But ex-Villa man Matt Lowton was in the right place at the right time to head off the line.
El Ghazi was denied by an inspired, finger-tip save from Nick Pope who turned his 25-yard free-kick against the crossbar on 37 minutes.
With seconds to go to the break, Villa hit the woodwork again as Kortney Hause rattled the post with a header.
Villa were even more dominant after the break.
Yet they never got as close as those two chances prior to half-time.
That was mainly because all their best chances fell to El Ghazi, who could not net for love nor money.
Five chances fell his way in the second half but every time his effort was either too tame to beat Pope or wide of the target.
Tyrone Mings almost won it at the death but headed wide to end a frustrating night for Dean Smith’s side.
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