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STRUGGLERS, WEST BROM, BURNLY PRODUCE EPL’S FIRST 0-0 AFTER 47 GAMES

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Manager of West Bromwich Albion, Slaven Bilic has demanded football be made ‘affordable’ after fans were charged nearly £15 to watch the first goalless draw of the Premier League season.

After another breathless weekend, West Brom and Burnley brought everyone back to Earth with the first 0-0 draw in the campaign’s 47th game. Those who forked out £14.95 to watch it on Sky may think twice next time.

‘Football should be not free but affordable,’ said Albion boss Bilic. ‘I always think football is not polo or golf, it’s the sport for masses, a working class sport and it should be affordable to everybody.’

Both sides had chances to seal their first league wins of the season. Chris Wood hit the bar for Burnley moments after Grady Diangana, Branislav Ivanovic and Matheus Pereira had gone close for West Brom. On his debut, Albion forward Karlan Grant had a first-half header correctly ruled out for offside, while Burnley were without defender Phil Bardsley, who is self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19.

Ivanovic’s display was hugely impressive. The 36-year-old, a Champions League winner with Chelsea in 2012, last played in the English top flight nearly four years ago yet his quality still shines through. ‘If we want to stay up then we have to win these types of games,’ added Bilic.

Grant was the striker Bilic craved and he threatened intermittently. Played in by Pereira in the 20th minute, the £15million signing from Huddersfield hesitated for a split second and fired over.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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