BURNLEY......... 2 LIVERPOOL....... 0
DISASTER FOR KLOPP BUT IT’S SHEER DELIGHT FOR SEAN’S BOYS
BURNLEY ................................... 2 LIVERPOOL ................................ 0
BURNLEY burst Liverpool’s early season bubble with a 2-0 victory which proved you do not have to have much of the ball to be effective.
With Pep Guardiola’s brand of possession football taking hold at Man City, Jurgen Klopp’s side also dominated that statistic at Turf Moor – but Sean Dyche’s Clarets were clinical when it mattered.
The home side converted two of their three shots on target with Sam Vokes scoring inside two minutes before Andre Gray doubled their lead before half-time.
Klopp said: “How can I be happy with this? We had absolutely no luck. Everybody needs to be more clinical. We have to accept it.”
LOVE thy neighbour? Sam Vokes and Andre Gray certainly do – as the twin strike force who live next door to each other scored their first Premier League goals.
Talk about neighbours from hell for Liverpool, who had won all four of their previous Premier League games against Burnley but were buried by the boys who chat over the garden fence.
Vokes stunned a dominant Liverpool with his lightning quick opener and then Gray finished them off before half-time to give boss Sean Dyche the first last laugh against those snipers from outside Turf Moor.
Gray, who did not know he was moving in next door to Vokes until he spotted his car on the drive, said: “It helps that we get on.
“It’s easy to talk through things and speak to each other and not be at each other’s throats.
“We clicked from day one, even before I moved in next to him. It’s a lot easier when it’s a big-man, little-man combination.”
Dyche was feeling pretty gung-ho, too, and said: “This might shut everyone up – those people predicting we’re going down again. “And to get both strikers on the scoresheet is marvellous. “Vokes’ shot was one hell of a finish and it was terrific from Andre, a lovely slide of a finish. We got a nice win. I don’t think there will be many teams who keep the ball like Liverpool but possession doesn’t win you games.”
Jurgen Klopp shrugged his shoulders at the shock defeat and said: “How can I be happy with this?
“When we gave away the first goal they defended for their lives. We had absolutely no luck.
“Everybody needs to be more clinical.
“We have to accept it. Burnley deserved to win with a very passionate performance.
“What can we say? Our timing and decision-making was not really good.
“Usually in games like this we win but we have to accept the result and carry on.”
Dyche certainly beamed in the glow of victory after braving the summer elements of rain and a swirling, bitter wind in a thin white shirt and tie.
The Burnley bruiser was thoroughly warmed up, though, by a flying start which rocked a Liverpool side riding the crest of a wave after their stunning opening-day triumph at Arsenal.
And the Clarets proved just how unpredictable this Premier League can be with that first goal after just three minutes.
Nathaniel Clyne boobed with a misplaced pass and Gray pounced to feed Vokes, who rammed his shot into the back of the net beyond keeper Simon Mignolet on what was the Belgian’s 200th Premier League appearance. Game on. Gray then produced a burst of pace to race clear only to be stopped in his tracks by Dejan Lovren with a sliding tackle.
But Liverpool eventually found their feet and launched raid after raid on a Burnley defence which refused to be breached, with Phillipe Coutinho looking to have left his deadly shooting boots back in the dressing room.
Daniel Sturridge came close to an equaliser with a curling left-foot shoot which fizzed just past the post as Klopp sensed a turnaround in his side’s fortunes.
But any such thoughts of a comeback were dismissed when Burnley stormed into a two-goal lead after 37 minutes.
Belgium international Steven Defour, making his debut following his £7.5million arrival from Anderlecht, stretched Liverpool with a solo run which Ragnar Klavan couldn’t end with a weak challenge.
And Defour slipped a pass through to Gray who cut inside before slotting the ball into the bottom corner to send Turf Moor into a totally unexpected frenzy. Liverpool, Klopp and the travelling faithful could not believe it. Nor could Burnley, as they played hosts in a fixture switched while Anfield’s redevelopment is complete. Home or away? Who cared as Burnley lapped up their lead, even though they could have been pegged back when Roberto Firmino let fly with a fast rising shot clawed away by keeper Tom Heaton.
Liverpool pumped up the pressure when substitute Marko Grujic, with his first touch, took aim with his left foot and Heaton was happy to tip the ball over for a corner.
Burnley, though, refused to buckle under the obvious strain and worked their socks off right until the end to earn a vital and pulsating victory.