All Whites striker proud of consistency after EPL heroics
First Chris Wood made it to the Premier League. Now he’s established himself as a consistent goalscorer for Burnley. By
WHEN Chris Wood moved from Waikato to West Bromwich Albion as a teenager more than a decade ago, he would have dreamed of scoring just a single hat-trick in senior football.
But after scoring one for Burnley against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League last Monday, he now has six, and he’ll be hoping there is more still to come.
His first hat-trick came way back in 2011, for Birmingham City in the English Championship against Millwall.
Then there was one for the All Whites in 2012, against the Solomon Islands in the playoff for third at the Oceania Nations Cup.
Two for Leicester City in 2013, against Bristol City in the Championship and Carlisle United in the League Cup.
Another for the All Whites, also against the Solomon Islands, but this time in a World Cup qualifier, completed with a free kick that was almost the final kick of the match.
And finally the one against Wolves away, which will have been extra special – the first by a Kiwi in the biggest club competition in world football.
The ball from that match will soon join those from the others in being mounted and given pride of place in Wood’s home, as a memento of a memorable day.
A day, he told Sunday News this week, where his team played as well as they have at any point since he joined them four years ago.
‘‘I think it’s as good a performance as I think I’ve seen from a Burnley side since I’ve been here. It was a fantastic game. I think everything just went right for us.
‘‘We were playing good football. We were scoring goals, and we were creating loads of chances and then at the back, the boys were unstoppable, so it was fantastic in that sense.’’
Wood completed his hat-trick in the first half at Molineux Stadium, then assisted Ashley Westwood as Burnley completed a 4-0 win over Wolves – a scoreline they’d only produced once previously during his four seasons at the club.
The goals took his tally for the 2020-21 season to 10, which means he has now hit double figures during each of his four Premier League campaigns at Burnley.
They were also his fourth, fifth, and sixth goals in his last six matches, where he has rediscovered his goalscoring touch, having been on track to finish with his worst haul (on a goals per 90 minutes basis) since he was a teenager.
But even though he only scored four goals in his first 22 Premier League outings this season, Wood was ‘‘never worried about not scoring’’.
‘‘Obviously it’s not nice to go through spells without goals, but it’s one of those where, as long as we create chances, I’m happy, because I know the form will come back.
‘‘We’re a side that doesn’t create a lot of chances anyway, so normally you’re thriving off one chance, and you need to stick it away or two half chances, and you need to stick one of them away, which makes it very tough.
‘‘We’re not like the bigger boys who have 24 shots a game and things like that. I think [Wolves] was an exception with us having 15 or 16 shots, and it was one of those where it works out well for you.
‘‘I wasn’t worried, but it’s nice to get back on the goal trail definitely.’’
With 10 goals in his 2017-18 campaign, 14 in 2018-19, 10 in 2019-20, and 10 and counting in 2020-21, Wood sits among an elite group of six players who have hit double digits in the last four Premier League seasons.
It consists of Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, who has 86 goals in that time, Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah (83), Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy (74),
Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette (50), Spurs’ Son Heung-Min (50), and the 29-year-old Kiwi, who has 44.
For much of his senior career in England, which began with a run as a substitute for West Brom towards the end of the 2008-09 Premier League season, Wood was driven by a desire to play in that competition regularly.
He got their briefly in 2014, when he scored his first goal in the competition, for Leicester against Everton, but it was only in 2017, after he’d proven himself to be one of the Championship’s best strikers with Leeds United, that he got the move to Burnley.
Once there, his goal became goals, so it meant plenty when his first against Wolves made him the club’s leading Premier League scorer.
‘‘I wanted to be a consistent Premier League player and at the same time I wanted to be a consistent goalscorer as well,’’ Wood said.
‘‘Obviously that’s extremely hard to do in the Premier League, so I’m very grateful, and I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved so far in the four seasons I’ve been here.
‘‘Hopefully, there’s a few more this season to come to add to my tally, and hopefully I can continue that in years to come, with more goals and more double-figure seasons.’’
The upshot of last week’s win is that Burnley now look to be safe and secure in the Premier League for another season, sitting in 15th, nine points clear of the relegation spots, with just five games left to play.
‘‘We’re not over the line yet mathematically, but we’ve put ourselves in a fantastic place. It would take a big change in form for it to not happen — it’ll be nice to hopefully be playing Premier League football again next season.’’
‘I wasn’t worried, but it’s nice to get back on the goal trail definitely.’ CHRIS WOOD