Wood you believe it, Burnley break their duck
CHRIS WOOD’S early goal eased Burnley out of the bottom three as Sean Dyche’s men finally bagged a first Premier League win of the season against a Crystal Palace side badly missing the virus-hit Wilfried Zaha at Turf Moor.
Wood’s strike after just eight minutes proved enough to end the Clarets’ wait for a maiden three points as losing Zaha, who has tested positive for coronavirus, hit Palace hard.
Burnley striker Jay Rodriguez expressed his relief after the victory but said it had been coming.
‘Yes, definitely, we felt that in training,’ said Rodriguez. ‘We kept saying “keep going, keep working and it will turn our way” and thankfully it did.
‘You don’t want to be down there but I still feel it’s early and there have been strange results at the start of the season. We’ve got to focus on what we can do.’ The only goal came when Wood finished emphatically after being put through by strike partner Rodriguez.
The Clarets came into the game as the division’s lowest scorers and this was only their fourth goal in eight matches – and first in five – but it was enough to move them out of the relegation zone.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson clattered the crossbar on his 100th Premier League appearance for Burnley, while keeper Nick Pope saved brilliantly from Palace striker Michy Batshuayi and substitute Christian Benteke.