Milner edges closer to EPL appearance record after Brighton draw with Wolves

BRIGHTON, England (AP) — On a night when James Milner went second in the Premier League’s all-time appearances table, his Brighton team was held to a 0-0 draw in a lackluster match at home to Wolverhampton.

The 38-year-old Milner made his 633rd Premier League appearance at the Amex stadium on Monday, taking him one clear of Ryan Giggs to sit just 20 matches behind leader Gareth Barry.

However, neither Milner nor anyone else was able to break the deadlock on a frustrating night.

Facundo Buonanotte saw one early attempt cleared off the line for Brighton but it was a rare moment of excitement in a dull first half.

Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele saved well against Matheus Cunha early in the second period and Wolves captain Max Kilman was relieved to see his last-gasp intervention hit the post rather than give Brighton the lead a few moments later.

“We didn’t really create enough in the final third,” Milner said. “At home, we have dropped too many points, which is disappointing. A clean sheet is important and that will help us going forward. The firepower we have up front means we usually get on the scoresheet. The clean sheets are really important, we’d have more points if we had kept more earlier in the season.”

A win for Wolves would have been its fourth league victory in a row, equaling a run it last achieved in 1972, but it had to settle for a point that left it 11th.

Brighton moved into seventh, one place above Manchester United.

Liverpool tops the table, five points ahead of Manchester City, which has a game in hand.

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