NEWCASTLE
JEFF HENDRICK got the anniversary party up and running for Sean Dyche as Burnley fi nally found a way to break down a stubborn Newcastle side.
Hendrick slammed in at the far post from Johann Gudmundsson’s cross, seconds after Jack Cork had been denied by Rob Elliot’s save.
It fi nally brought to life a game that had seen little reason for cheer on the night that Dyche celebrated fi ve years in charge at Turf Moor.
He may not be Burnley’s manager for much longer if he keeps producing the results that have lifted them from the Championship to seventh in the Premier League.
But last night was not one of those matches that will live long in the memory, as Rafa Benitez’s side kept their shape and discipline for most of the game to make life tough for the Clarets.
There was little sign celebration for Dyche at all in a dreadful fi rst half, with both sides well organised but lacking the spark to create a clear opening.
It did not help Burnley that they were without their top scorer Chris Wood, forced out of action with the hamstring injury he picked up at Manchester City the weekend before last. Even so, Hendrick might have scored after just 34 seconds, breaking on to James Tarkowski’s fl ick- on and whipping a left- foot shot across goal, before Ashley Barnes just failed to meet Cork’s cross on the stretch.
Newcastle, though, are a tough team to break down, and having ridden that early pressure, started to test Burnley. Christian Atsu swung and blazed over when he might of a have hit the target in a goalmouth scramble following a corner that Jamaal Lascelles had knocked towards goal.
Atsu, a lively presence on the left fl ank for Newcastle, then ran at Matt Lowton, who backed off and allowed the winger to square a pass for Jonjo Shelvey to strike straight at home keeper Nick Pope from 20 yards. Shelvey’s temper has got him into trouble more than once in the past but he showed the better side of his game in the early stages here, spraying a couple of lovely long- range passes to start attacks that ultimately came to nothing.
The game had a bit of bite too, with Burnley midfi elder Robbie Brady lucky to escape a booking for catching Newcastle striker Joselu midway through the fi rst half.
But Brady, who can be inconsistent, was having one of his better nights with the ball at his feet, whipping over an outswinging cross that Barnes, in for the injured Wood, headed just wide after getting in front of his defender.
Atsu had one more sight of goal for the visitors just before the break as the ball sat up for him 20 yards out but Lowton got his chest in the way.
There was a sign that the second half might be livelier when Ayoze Perez took on Joselu’s short pass from a Javier Manquillo throw and bent in a right- footed shot towards the far corner that Pope did well to push away. Brady almost produced a goal for Burnley moments later when his fl oated free- kick was met with a powerful header on the run from Tarkowski, but it was straight at Newcastle keeper Rob Elliot.
But the match lost its way again after that – and it increasingly looked as if a setpiece or a mistake was the only way that a goal would arrive.
In the end, it was a mistake, as Perez lost the ball near the edge of his own penalty area, allowing Burnley in to set up Hendrick’s goal.
BURNLEY NEWCASTLE ( 4- 2- 3- 1): NEXT UP: Referee: ( 4- 2- 3- 1): NEXT UP: Booked: Goal: