Egan earns Blades a point at Burnley

By Simon Evans

BURNLEY, England (Reuters) - John Egan grabbed an 80th-minute equaliser as Sheffield United earned a 1-1 draw at Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday after James Tarkowski had given the home side a first-half lead.

The result, at a windy and cold Turf Moor, leaves both teams still in contention for a Europa League place and provided some justice for the Yorkshire side who certainly did not deserve to leave Lancashire empty-handed.

United are eighth on 48 points from 33 games with Burnley ninth on 46, a point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur who host Everton on Monday.

Matej Vydra missed a good early chance for Burnley, shooting wide after being put through by Erik Pieters while United went close when Sander Berge forced a good save out of Nick Pope from close range.

The Clarets grabbed the lead, two minutes before the interval when Dwight McNeil floated in a free kick which was flicked on by Jay Rodriguez and Tarkowski slid to turn the ball in at the back post.

Although the visitors were on top in midfield for good stretches of the game, Burnley should have doubled their lead in the 76th minute when a long-range Rodriguez effort was parried out by Dean Henderson straight to McNeil but the 20-year-old could not find the target.

It was to prove a costly miss as United drew level four minutes later thanks to an emphatic finish from Egan at the back post after Billy Sharp had glanced on a cross from George Baldock.

Egan's goal was his first in the Premier League and means he has now scored in all four professional divisions in English football.

"I didn't think it was a game with a lot of quality. Conditions didn't help - blustery and a dry pitch. But it is always going to be difficult coming here. There was never going to be anything handed out to us," said United manager Chris Wilder.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche, who was without two key players in injured skipper and defender Ben Mee and central midfielder Jack Cork, had no complaints about the result.

"I'm certainly not disappointed. We are maximum stretch at the moment with the squad. I thought we were very competitive in awkward conditions and made chances that should really have got the game done," he said.

(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Toby Davis)