SURVIVAL DRIVE
Burnley edge closer to safety after road trip
A SEVEN-hour slog to earn a seventh point in seven days. A third of Burnley’s entire tally has now come in the past week. This one, on a pivotal day in the Premier League’s drive to survive, was secured in the space of just 25 second-half minutes. For Sean Dyche and his side, the journey home will feel rather less arduous after this.
It took the Burnley manager seven hours to drive down to London on Friday. His players spent about six on trains and buses. And for a while here, they played with all the sluggishness of a side still stiff-legged from their travels.
For 45 minutes and 40-odd seconds, to be more precise, Crystal Palace were in control, leading thanks to Jeffrey Schlupp’s goal and the magic of Michael Olise.
Burnley could hardly have posed less of a threat. But then, out of nowhere, the visitors levelled thanks to Luka Milivojevic’s own goal. And for a time thereafter, Burnley were excellent. Wout Weghorst came close with a header, he had a winner ruled out for offside, too.
Come the final whistle, however, Wilfried Zaha had hit the post and Burnley backs leant against the wall once more. They held on. So wins over Brighton and Tottenham were consolidated with a hard-fought draw here.
Last Saturday morning, they sat bottom, seven points from safety. By last night, they were one place and one point from safety. That’s now one defeat in seven — keep this up and before long they will be out of the bottom three for the first time since November.
‘It’s been a tough week,’ Dyche said. ‘First we had a long trip to Brighton. Then after Tottenham on Wednesday we had another long journey down here… a big week, an important week and this is another point on the board.’ For Crystal Palace, yet another one of those days under Patrick Vieira. No top-flight team has racked up more than their 12 draws. This will again feel like two points lost.
‘Overall we didn’t play well,’ he said. ‘I believe at times we played their game — too many long balls. We didn’t make good decisions.’
Amid the frustration, however, Olise’s brilliance shined through once more. He really is a special talent. The winger doused an oft-flat first half in dashes of colour and brilliance. Never more vividly than in the ninth minute when, from the right flank, Olise shuffled towards Dwight McNeil, feinted to go one way, then the other, before firing in a low cross — with his wrong foot. All Schlupp had to do was reach it.
From there, Olise twice came close to scoring, one effort was deflected just over, the other saved by Nick Pope.
At the other end, Burnley created next to nothing as Palace dealt well with the aerial threat of Jay Rodriguez and Weghorst. But then one slip-up, within a minute of the restart, cost them dear. A ball into the box was nodded down by Rodriguez to Aaron Lennon, whose low cross was skewed into his own net by Milivojevic.
Suddenly Burnley were enjoying the ball and it was Palace’s turn to soak up pressure. Weghorst saw a header tipped over by Jack Butland shortly before he was denied by the offside flag after finding the net.
For all that time, Olise and Zaha had been spectators but in a flash they roused Selhurst Park. Olise’s crossfield ball found Zaha, whose first shot was saved. His second moments later hit the post. That was the closest either side came.