From first to last, Dyche is delighted as Burnley win a five-goal thriller
BURNLEY have quite a record when it comes to scoring first but scoring last in a five-goal thriller is something of a rarity.
Ashley Barnes’ first goal since February 2015, four minutes into injury time, gave Sean Dyche’s team their fourth victory of the season, all of them on home soil. Their record at Turf Moor is laying the foundations for a survival fight. At the same stage two years ago, they were winless.
‘It feels like we have given ourselves a good base to work from,’ said Dyche. ‘We know the Premier League is relentless. It challenges you every single game. It is to be enjoyed for sure and the players have earned the right to enjoy it.’
Two Burnley counterattacks in the opening 14 minutes put an unjust complexion on the match. Palace were dominant going forward, with Wilfried Zaha taking his chance to impress the watching England manager Gareth Southgate with driving runs into the area.
But just as it did against Liverpool, Burnley’s start involved a second-minute goal. Full-back Matt Lowton sprang a counterattack from a Palace corner and then raced on to Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s cross. Although his volley was blocked by Scott Dann, the ball fell for Sam Vokes to poke in his fourth goal of the season.
Then, when Tom Heaton repelled Zaha’s blistering volley, Vokes turned provider as Gudmundsson’s drive burst through Steve Mandanda’s limp attempt to save.
Burnley, with Belgium international Steven Defour back from injury, found themselves two up from as many attacks.
It was a similar situation to Palace’s last top-flight visit 22 months ago, the sense of deja vu enhanced when Alan Pardew’s men — combatting the inhospitable wind as well as Burnley’s commitment — roared back.
Pardew switched James McArthur and Jason Puncheon to allow the latter’s range of passing to have more of an influence from deep. It was to no avail as Andros Townsend and Christian Benteke flashed efforts off target.
Pardew then re-shaped again on the hour, withdrawing Puncheon and throwing on Connor Wickham as a second forward. Within a minute, Wickham had halved the deficit, nipping in to beat the offside trap and direct Zaha’s low cross into the top corner of the goal.
Burnley appeared to be running out of steam as the clock ticked down and Palace were in the
ascendancy when Lowton handled Townsend’s cross and Benteke rolled in the penalty.
The contest’s pendulum had one last swing in it, though, as Barnes found succour for last year’s injury hell — a cruciate ligament injury ruled him out of the majority of their Championship title-winning season — with an emphatic finish four minutes into injury time.
Even then Townsend had time to strike the base of a post.
Pardew said: ‘It was such a committed display from us, so in control at times, that it was galling to come away with a defeat.
‘Burnley were the home team and they broke on us twice and we will have to look at that. Because, as powerful as we are at setplays, we can’t over-commit on those occasions.’
BURNLEY (4-2-3-1): Heaton 7; Lowton 6, Keane 6, Mee 7, Flanagan 6; Marney 8, Defour 7 (Tarkowski 74min, 6); Gudmundsson 7, Hendrick 6 (Barnes 85), Arfield 5 (Boyd 65, 6); Vokes 7. Booked: Marney. Subs (not used): Robinson, Kightly, Gray, Bamford.
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-2-3-1): Mandanda 5; Ward 6, Dann 6, Delaney 6, Kelly 6 (Fryers 59, 6); Cabaye 7, McArthur 6 (Ledley 87); Townsend 7, Puncheon 7 (Wickham 59, 7), Zaha 8; Benteke 7. Booked: Delaney, McArthur . Subs (not used): Hennessey, Tomkins, Flamini, Lee.
Referee: A Taylor (Cheshire) 7.