James Trafford stopped two late penalties from Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor as Burnley managed to secure their eighth goalless draw of the season to reach the same number of points as Championship leaders Leeds.
During a thrilling conclusion at Turf Moor, Isidor missed two opportunities to score from the penalty spot, first in the 86th minute and then again in stoppage time.
The first penalty would have sparked controversy if it had gone in. Isidor fell under the challenge of CJ Egan-Riley as he made his way into the box but the contact, if there was any, seemed to happen outside the box.
Trafford took his time changing his gloves, causing Isidor to wait, and his tactics paid off when the French player opted for power and the goalkeeper managed to parry the ball away.
Then, towards the end of stoppage time, Burnley's recent signing Oliver Sonne, who came on as a late substitute, fouled Dennis Cirkin in the corner of the box, leading to a repeat of the dramatic events.
Trafford laid on the ground as he waited for the medical team to arrive while players from both teams argued over the ball. Finally, when Isidor took his shot, Trafford, who had previously saved a crucial penalty during England's triumph at the European Under-21 Championships in 2023, dived low to his right to stop the ball once again.
Burnley missed the chance to move two points ahead of Leeds, who will play against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday. Nonetheless, Burnley celebrated as if they had won, extending their unbeaten league run to 14 games and securing their 18th clean sheet of the season.
Sunderland supporters will have been pleased with the performance of their new loanee Enzo Le Fee, who was involved in many of their attacking moves. However, they were unable to repeat their earlier victory against Burnley from August.
Although Burnley is renowned for their exceptional defensive record, they demonstrated their attacking abilities at the start of the game as Jaidon Anthony and Lyle Foster made threatening runs down both flanks.
Foster had the first significant chance when he met Anthony's corner, but his attempt ended up in the side-netting as he tried to score. Later, Anthony had the best opportunity to score during open play when Foster set him up, but his powerful shot was saved by Anthony Patterson.
Early in the second half, Zian Flemming missed a clear chance before Sunderland started to put pressure on. Le Fee's excellent pass found Isidor, but his powerful half-volley hit the outside of the post.
Le Fee, who joined Sunderland on loan from Roma just six months after the Italian side paid over £19 million to acquire him from Rennes, had a close attempt of his own before the hour mark when his long-range shot deflected off Laurent and hit the side-netting.
All the excitement happened towards the end. Sunderland substitute Eliezer Mayenda set up Isidor, but there were doubts about whether there was any real contact as he went down to earn the first penalty.
Mayenda then had his shot deflected wide by Egan-Riley from close range before the second penalty concluded a remarkable final few minutes.