VIN’S HOT ROD
Clarets boss delighted to be in good Kompany
STYLISH on and off the pitch, Burnley served notice that they are in a hurry to reclaim a Premier League place.
While boss Vincent Kompany was all snazzy gear on the touchline his vibrant side, with Jay Rodriguez on fire, demolished one of the Championship’s in-form sides.
He said: “The performance was good, one filled with energy. We wanted to give the fans something to be happy about. I always thought this would be a big test.
“16 players coming into this squad has made this another step towards being discovered. I can now trust them more. We were threatening with the ball.
“But I’m not going to go over the top. We can be even more dominant.”
Swansea were simply torn apart in the opening half by the home side’s turbocharged attacks led by wing speedsters Nathan Tella and Anass Zaroury.
The confidence from four straight wins for Russell Martin’s side quickly evaporated as the hosts went for the jugular. Martin said: “It’s the best team and squad we have faced since I have been here.
“It’s been a tough day. We have recently had some good away days. This was a bad one. But to go in 3-0 down at half-time is ridiculous from five shots.”
As Tella and Zaroury continually opened up an over-worked Swans defence, others were able to profit.
The supporting cast on the flanks of fullbacks Vitinho and Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen aren’t exactly static either as they proved, combining for the first goal.
With Swansea’s defence chasing shadows again, Maatsen delivered a brilliant cross for Brazilian-born Vitinho to head in.
It was a constant wave of Burnley attacks and leading scorer Rodriguez bundled a cross from Zaroury over the line for his sixth strike of the season. But before
Swansea could enjoy some respite from a battering, Kompany’s razor-sharp troops struck again in added time.
As Swansea lost possession Josh Brownhill set up Zaroury for the Belgian to finish crisply for his first goal for the club.
There was false hope for the overrun visitors when Ben Cabango had a fierce header saved before normal service resumed, Josh Cullen feeding Rodriguez for a left-footed finish to make it 4-0.
It was all too much for Swansea’s Joel Piroe who saw red 18 minutes from time after stamping on Cullen.
Clarets chairman Alan Pace said: “For a new squad and manager this is fantastic.”
BURNLEY: Muric 6; Vitinho 7, Harwood-bellis 7, Beyer 7, Maatsen 8 (Egan-riley (84) 6); Cullen 7, Cork 7 (Bastien (76) 6); Tella 8 (Gudmundsson (62) 7), Brownhill 7, Zaroury 8 (Benson (76) 6); Rodriguez 8 (Barnes (76) 6)
SWANSEA: Benda 6; Wood 5, Naughton 5, Cabango 5; Sorinola 6, Fulton 6, Grimes 5, Latibeaudiere 5; Piroe 6, Ntcham 5
(Cooper (62) 5); Obafemi 5 (Cullen (62) 5)
STAR MAN: Nathan Tella – Ran Swansea ragged and was only stopped when he clattered into the advertising hoarding.
REF: Stephen Martin 7