Burnley place all their chips on a Turf Moor win
ABDuLLAH Avci, the Istanbul Basaksehir manager, suddenly channelled his inner Louis van Gaal.
‘Long ball, long ball,’ he moaned, before repeating the sentiment countless times.
Avci did not quite have the sort of infamous dossier Van Gaal produced as Manchester united boss, but there were statistics to go with it. Numbers and more numbers. He went on and on.
Yet these are the facts, as Van Gaal would say: Burnley should progress and this was an excellent result: win next week and the Clarets are two games from the Europa League group stage.
Sean Dyche (below) was not worried about failing to register a shot on target and, as Avci bleated, he stood in the tunnel smiling and reflecting on a job well done with chairman Mike Garlick.
‘You know it’s tough coming to a place like this, it’s new to these lads, and we’ve come with 17 outfield players — that’s our lot,’ Dyche said. ‘ So I’m really pleased. Certainly with the shape and attitude, on a heavy, leg-sapping, old-fashioned pitch.’
Basaksehir were evidently incensed after Burnley were unashamed during the game that nobody watched. This very creditable draw against the third best team in Turkey was not televised back home. Burnley could not even organise a screening for supporters at Turf Moor. Other than the boisterous 600 who travelled and others battling incessant buffering on internet streams, it is as if the third round qualifying first leg did not happen.
That, in its own way, bore some resemblance to 51 years ago when they were last in Europe. Last night was as close to that era as you could imagine, those wanting to know having to wait for information or scour Twitter. Well that information is positive and who cares how it was achieved. That Joe Hart was booked for time- wasting and James Tarkowski seen belting a ball into the stand two seconds after the referee’s whistle had been blown neatly tells the story.
They certainly fancy it in east Lancashire after holding off a side including former Juventus winger Eljero Elia, Gael Clichy and Emre Belozoglu, once of Newcastle. Emmanuel Adebayor and Arda Turan were unavailable. The former is likely to be fit next week.
Basaksehir were only formed in 2014 but have significant finance behind them and should have pressed home an advantage. Burnley occasionally looked stretched but Hart’s debut went smoothly, which will do him the world of good, and so will the two smart saves made from Junior Caicara and then Manuel da Costa. ‘Don’t forget he’s been thrown into the deep end out of the blue,’ Dyche said.
Burnley’s two chances fell to Tarkowski and Jeff Hendrick, both struggling to bring flicks from free-kicks under their spell in front of goal. And by the time the clock struck 70, Dyche was quite happy to just sit and wait for full time.
‘We’ve had 10 years of everyone saying possession wins — it doesn’t, as the World Cup showed,’ Dyche added. ‘It’s less relevant now.’
Hopefully, Avci was not listening.
BASAKSEHIR (4-2-3-1): Gunok 6; Caicara 6.5, Da Costa 6.5, Epureanu 7, Clichy 7; Emre 7, Tekdemir 6.5; Visca 7, Kahveci 6 (Jojic 58min, 6), Elia 5.5 (Frei 83); Bajic 5.5 (Napoleoni 89).
Subs not used: Babacan, Attamah, Ucar, Inler. Booked: Da Costa. Manager: Abdullah Avci 6. BURNLEY (4-4-1-1): Hart 7; Bardsley 6.5, TARKOWSKI 7.5, Mee 7, Taylor 6.5; Walters 6.5, Cork 7, Westwood 6, Gudmundsson 5 (Vokes 62, 6); Hendrick 6; Barnes 6.5 (Lennon 77). Subs not used: Legzdins, Long, Gibson, Lowton, Ward. Booked: Barnes, Hart, Lennon. Manager: Sean Dyche 6. Referee: Srdjan Jovanovic (Serbia) 5.