ALL ABOUT MEE
Skipper pounces to keep Clarets’ hopes looking up
CRYSTAL PALACE 0 BURNLEY 1
BOTH these teams have dreams of Europe. It is a fair bet that Europe is not dreaming about them.
Of all the games that have been played without any fans watching since the big restart, this was the one that deserved to be played behind closed doors.
Doors slammed shut with the biggest padlock you could find.
That was until Ben Mee dived to head Burnley in front with an effort that should have been stopped, just after the hour at Selhurst Park.
It was his first goal since January 2017 and it earned Burnley a win that put them above Arsenal and Sheffield United into eighth place after one defeat in 10 league games.
But you could barely believe they were on the verge of qualifying for another European campaign in the light of recent events. Manager Sean Dyche is at loggerheads with his board, complaining that contracts had not been sorted quickly enough by chairman Mike Garlick. That meant he had lost three players from an already small squad.
Once again, Dyche, linked with Newcastle this week, named only seven substitutes and two goalkeepers on the bench had never played a firstteam game for Burnley.
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson had also been tetchy, fretting that injuries could wreck his bid for Europa League football.
Before kick-off he chased an Amazon film crew off the pitch because they were earwigging his conversation with Dyche, which will not have improved his mood.
The shouts echoed around an empty Selhurst Park as the light faded across South London. Luka Milivojevic curled a Palace free-kick over, but Dyche’s side had the better chances and the lively Dwight McNeil’s runs constantly teased the hosts.
Hodgson’s side had an escape when Mee headed down, Patrick van Aanholt blocked on the line and McNeil could only drive over.
Then McNeil raced through the middle but drove straight at Vicente Guaita when he should have done better.
Wilfried Zaha, back after a calf strain, showed his frustration, yelling “sit down and shut up” at Clarets assistant manager Ian Woan after an argument over a throw-in.
But Burnley could have been ahead again when Guaita spilled Ashley Westwood’s drive but Erik Pieters shot at the keeper.
Jordan Ayew escaped a red card when his shove on Josh Brownhill’s face was looked at by the VAR. And Gary Cahill should have put Palace ahead when Ayew’s clever back heel left him in space but the centre-back shot tamely.
Burnley struck when Westwood fired a free-kick into the near post and Mee, on his 300th appearance, dived to glance in his header. The hapless Guaita got a hand to the ball but could only flap it into the net.
Scott Dann headed just over as Palace tried to fight back.
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-1-4-1): Guaita 5; Ward 6, Dann 6, Cahill 6, Van Aanholt 6; Milivojevic 6; Zaha 6, McArthur 7, Kouyate 6 (McCarthy 46 6), Townsend 7 (Meyer 77); Ayew 6.
BURNLEY (4-4-1-1): Pope 7; Bardsley 6, Tarkowski 6, Mee 6, Taylor 6; Brownhill 7, Westwood 6, Cork 6 (Long 69 6), Pieters 7; McNeil 8; Vydra 6. Goal: Mee 62.