Goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann has revealed he slipped on the astroturf that is behind the line in the Turf Moor goals in the seconds leading up to Burnley’s equaliser on Tuesday night.
The Austrian international seemed set for a second clean sheet against the league leaders before they snatched a goal right at the end of stoppage time through Michael Obafemi.
And to compound his misery, the keeper said that he lost his footing as he tried to get across to block after Lyle Foster’s header from very close range had come back off the post.
“I slipped on the astroturf,” he explained.
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“Behind the goalline on their pitch it’s astroturf, and when I slipped that’s what killed me a little bit.
“I tried to plant my foot and stop, but instead I slipped. I don’t know if it would have made a difference considering it was only two yards out, but it didn’t help.
“We could have probably defended it a bit better but having said that it was unlucky. Their player hits the post from two yards and the ball bounces to another Burnley player.
“It hurt at the time, and it still hurts now because it was an unlucky goal to concede.
“It wasn’t like we didn’t defend the corner, it was just incredibly unlucky. The ball in was good and although I don’t think he got a touch, having their keeper inside the area makes a difference. It probably shouldn’t, but it does.
“Overall it was just a difficult ending to take. Before the game a point would have sounded good because of their home form and the fact they were on a long winning run, but with the way the game panned out a point was not what we should have got.”
Bachmann was called into action inside the first minute as he made a block at the feet of Johann Gudmundsson, then tipped the follow-up effort from Ashley Barnes onto the bar.
“Apart from the chance they had in the first minute, I thought we defended incredibly well,” he said.
“I can’t remember another chance from open play, their other chances were from set pieces.
“They had all that possession but we dealt with them really well, and isolated them and made them play more backwards passes than anything else.
“In the first half we caused them problems by pressing when they wanted to play out from the back, and we probably could have been a bit more ruthless.
“If we had made better decisions in the final third and been more ruthless then we could have gone in at half-time maybe 2-0 or 3-0 up.”
Playing behind the new central defensive pairing of Ryan Porteous and Wesley Hoedt has been something Bachmann has enjoyed.
“Wes and Ryan have done incredibly well since they came in,” he said.
“The fact they want to attack the ball in the air not only helps me in our box, but also makes a difference in the opposition box too.
“Ryan is incredibly aggressive in the way he heads the ball. He reminds me a bit of Craig Dawson in the way he attacks set pieces. He puts his head in there and doesn’t care. He wants the ball regardless of whoever and whatever is in front of him.
“Wes has so much experience from playing in the top leagues around Europe and international football. He’s so good on the ball.
“Having those two come in and settle so well in the defence is certainly a big positive for us.”
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