Sunderland vs Burnley match report: Premier League pair put on dour stalemate at Stadium of Light

Sunderland 0 Burnley 0: The two will meet again at Turf Moor a week on Tuesday after playing out a forgettable 90 minutes on Wearside

Joey Barton made his second Burnley debut in the drab and forgettable affair (Getty)

There was little magic of the cup to savour on Wearside, but a shock of sorts in that David Moyes saw fit to risk Jermain Defoe, Sunderland's top scorer and most likely provider of Premier League salvation this season, for entirety of this eminently forgettable tie.

Given that the First World War broke out within months of Burnley securing the FA Cup for the first and so far only time in their history approaching 103 years ago, the threat of global Armageddon still remains, as the sides will have to do it all again in the from of an unwanted replay next week at Turf Moor.

The visitors wouldn't have required such an inconvenience had James Tarkowski's late header from a Steven Defour corner been an inch to the left, in which case it would have found the corner of Vito Mannone's net rather than thumping against the post, before Stephen Ward wastefully put the rebound into orbit to preserve Sunderland's place in Monday's fourth round draw, and an unbeaten home record against these opponents stretching back 38 years.

Adnan Januzaj could not inspire struggling Sunderland to an uplifting cup victory (Getty)

If the contest, played out in front of a crowd 23,000 down on the average Premier League crowd here this season, was something of a non-event, some of those taking part were more worthy of note.

Defoe, who has scored 11 of his side's 19 Premier League goals this season to see the Wearside club having to rebuff offers from West Ham, had been expected to warm the bench at most to minimise the threat of potential injury. Instead, the 34-year-old played for 90 minutes in what was a 21st start of the season, more than any team-mate barring Patrick van Aanholt, the full-back who also waived the opportunity of an afternoon off to perform admirably down the hosts' left flank.

Burnley, too, had an eye-catching name on their team-sheet, in the form of the prodigal Joey Barton, who returned to English football after a seven-month hiatus courtesy of an unfulfilling eight-game cameo at Glasgow Rangers. The midfielder was one of six changes for the visitors as they comfortably outdid their hosts in the 'disrespecting the FA Cup' as Moyes brought in just the two fresh pairs of legs.

In his first appearance for almost four months, Barton was rather rusty, which was almost as predictable as the mindless chorus of boos received by the former Newcastle player on his every touch, as Burnley carved out the greater number of openings, but were unable to find a way past a side they had cut open four times to thrash as recently as New Year's Eve.

Moyes' side now face an unwelcome replay (Getty)

Mannone stood up well to block Sam Vokes' close range effort after the forward had been put clear by Scott Arfield early on. The Welshman returned the favour after the break, but the clear run on goal presented to Arfield's failed to materialise as the midfielder pulled up with a hamstring problem as precisely the wrong moment.

Jack Rodwell went increasingly close from long range for Sunderland, on the third of those occasions forcing a fine fingertip save from Nick Pope, the Burnley goalkeeper's only true employment of an otherwise quiet afternoon.

Defoe was penalised for a dive late on as he appeared to have decent claims for being fouled on the edge of the Burnley box. It capped a frustrating afternoon for a player home supporters would probably have preferred to have remained at home to recharge his batteries for more important battles to come.There was still time for Ashley Barnes to spare everyone from a second instalment as injury-time approached, but the substitute, under pressure from John O'Shea, fired over to necessitate further trans-Pennine trials and tribulations.

Moyes lamented his side's failure to put the tie to bed, but conceded that as the game went on, he became more amenable to the prospect of a replay. "We put out our strongest team, we didn't have many players available and we wanted to get through," he said. "If you'd given me a replay with 15 minutes left I'd have taken it. I'd have rather won but we'll take a replay.

"Overall we were poor and I was disappointed with the performance. I never thought we got started in the second half. We tried as much as we could to alter it. Burnley had a few chances and a lot of those were our own doing."

Teams

Sunderland (4-4-2): Mannone; Manquillo, Denayer, Djilobodji, van Aanholt; Borini, Love, Rodwell, Larsson (O'Shea 84); Januzaj, Defoe.

Subs not used: Mika, Robson, Asoro, Maja, Honeyman, Embleton.

Burnley (4-4-2): Pope; Darikwa, Keane, Tarkowski, Ward; Gudmundsson (Hendrick 73), Barton, Defour, Arfield (Kightly 60); Vokes, Gray (Barnes 73).

Subs not used: Robinson, Lowton, Mee, Marney.

Referee: Stuart Attwell

Attendance: 17,632