The West Ham United manager David Moyes was again left to bemoan his team’s inability to convert chances, and was frustrated by an unsuccessful first-half penalty appeal at Turf Moor.
The visitors remain fourth, one point clear of Manchester United, and Sean Dyche’s Burnley stay 18th, on 11 points, after collecting a clean sheet for only the third time this season.
But Moyes’s recent complaints about his team’s failure to turn pressure into goals was again a key factor in what he might perceive as two points dropped.
On a weekend of controversial penalty calls involving teams at the top end of the Premier League, the latest came at Turf Moor after 37 minutes and left West Ham bemused.
Dwight McNeil appeared to trip Craig Dawson as the ball ran out of play after a West Ham set-piece but neither the referee, Graham Scott, nor Jon Moss, the VAR, agreed.
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The incident came ten minutes after West Ham carved out the best chance of a relatively forgettable first half, from Jarrod Bowen’s right-wing free kick.
Issa Diop met the ball at the near-post but his goalbound header was cleared off the line acrobatically by the goalkeeper Nick Pope, who was seeking to impress the watching England manager, Gareth Southgate.
But they were rare moments of goalmouth incident in a half high in effort but low in quality.
An early McNeil corner was wasted before Jay Rodriguez’s skilful, twisting header from Ashley Westwood’s through ball failed to trouble Lukasz Fabianski.
West Ham’s notable opening came through Arthur Masuaka’s 25-yard volley, from a Charlie Taylor clearance, which flew just wide of the mark.
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The second half opened with West Ham threatening. Ben Mee made important blocks to stop the progress of Declan Rice and Said Benrahma in quick succession. Then, on 55 minutes, the increasingly influential Rice drove in a low cross which deflected off Taylor and sat up nicely for Benrahma whose strong header drew another good reflex save from Pope.
The goalkeeper soon had to deal with another dangerous cross from Rice while Michail Antonio’s recent frustrations in front of goal continued when he blasted over from 25 yards.
West Ham enjoyed the better of the chances for the remainder of the contest, although the closest they came to a breakthrough was from Rice’s 84th-minute shot that just cleared the crossbar from 25 yards.
Bowen also had a late chance but was again denied by an excellent diving save from Pope.
Burnley (4-4-2): N Pope 9 — M Lowton 6, J Tarkowski 6, B Mee 7, C Taylor 7 — J Gudmundsson 6, A Westwood 7 (J Brownhill 70, 6), J Cork 6, D McNeil 7 (A Lennon 88) — C Wood 6 (M Vydra 59, 6), J Rodriguez 6. Substitutes (not used) W Hennessey, N Collins, E Pieters, P Bardsley, K Long, B Thomas. Booked Mee, Taylor
West Ham (4-2-3-1): L Fabianksi 7; V Coufal 7, C Dawson 6, I Diop 6, A Masuaka 7; T Soucek 6, D Rice 9; J Bowen 7, M Lanzini 6 (P Fornals 80), S Benrahma 6 (N Vlasic 70, 6); M Antonio 6. Substitutes (not used) A Yarmolenko, A Areola, M Noble, A Kral, A Alese, H Ashby, J Baptiste. Booked Dawson.
Referee G Scott.
