Hendrick hammers home advantage as Dyche wins
WITH as many home wins as the two Manchester clubs put together, the foundations of Burnley’s quest for Premier League survival are built almost exclusively at Turf Moor.
Yesterday saw another, a five-goal thriller during which Bournemouth could not quite summon the comeback strength of six days prior against Liverpool.
Sixteen of Burnley’s 17 points have come here but if Sean Dyche is to mastermind a longer top-flight stay they must stop capitulating away from East Lancashire.
This fifth victory of the season needs to be followed up with a result on Wednesday at West Ham United.
For now, though, they will revel in two quite exquisite strikes — for two very different reasons — on a day Eddie Howe called his side’s defending ‘criminal’.
The first came via Jeff Hendrick, the £10.5million record signing who pundits were claiming could find himself nestled inside a goal of the season list moments after Artur Boruc was beaten on 13 minutes.
And quite right too. This was a moment of absolute beauty, absolute quality. Hendrick killed Matthew Lowton’s forceful pass dead in mid-air, used his knee to tee up the strike and then cut across the ball to send a unstoppable crashing effort way into Boruc’s top lefthand post.
‘Certainly worthy of the Premier League,’ Dyche asserted. ‘It is just a shame we aren’t Arsenal so it won’t be shown 1,000 times. I know he can finish. It’s a worldie, that.’ The second, three minutes later, was nothing of the sort. Ben Mee’s free header took a deflection off Callum Wilson, befuddling Boruc on the line and he spilled into Stephen Ward’s path.
Ward’s first Premier League goal since January 2012 — 1804 days for those counting — and fully deserved, although the hosts would then go into their shells after Michael Keane went close.
They sat back as Howe wrestled back some midfield control. Harry Arter — who was afforded a touching minute’s applause from all four sides to recognise the first anniversary of his stillborn, Renee — began picking holes and the tricky Ryan Fraser caused problems.
Benik Afobe’s goal just before the break was all Burnley’s own doing, however. They might have taken issue with Martin Atkinson’s timekeeping, ball hitting net after the minimum one minute’s added time had passed, but their statuesque defending invited pressure.
Simon Francis found Afobe alone 12 yards out, Burnley stood and watched as one when the cross came in and
Afobe swept in his first of the season. ‘We became a bit desperate,’ Howe said. ‘We don’t want to become a team that plays well when chasing the game.
‘Burnley stick to their philosophy. It is unusual to find a team in the Premier League playing the way they do but you have to deal with it.’
They did not and the game was out of sight with 15 minutes left, George Boyd emphatically thundering across Boruc to add a third.
Charlie Daniels netted a stunning consolation but there was no late, great rousing rally this time. ‘How people respond to the team here is really important,’ Dyche added.
‘The fans see a team that give every inch every week and that is a powerful thing.’
Now those away ills require a remedy.