Jay Rodriguez fires double as Burnley coast to FA Cup win at Fulham
Sean Dyche said Burnley’s “collective mentality” was the key to their 3-0 FA Cup triumph over Fulham.
Jay Rodriguez struck twice before turning provider for his side’s third, controlling a loose ball with his shoulder into the path of Kevin Long, who was able to tap home to secure Burnley’s place in the fifth round.
Having not scored since a 1-1 draw at Liverpool on 11 July last year, Rodriguez
glanced home a header just after the half-hour mark to put his side ahead before converting from the penalty spot in the 71st minute.
“I thought the attitude towards the game and the performance was fantastic,” said Dyche. “As good an energy from a side as I’ve seen on a very tricky pitch, a very heavy pitch. Within the group, we’ve had a lot of injury problems this season but we’ve got fitter this season, and as it’s come back together I think it continues to grow.”
Fulham slipped to their third successive defeat and conceded three goals for the first time since a 3-2 home loss to Everton on 22 November. “It was a tough day, I didn’t feel we deserved anything out of the game today, to be quite honest with you,” said Scott Parker, Fulham’s manager. “I thought we fell very short of the standards and what we’re used to seeing.
“I think we all understood the challenges we would have faced today and we just couldn’t deal with it too well at times and were never able to get a foothold in the game and I think Burnley were well worthy of the win and that’s how I see the game.”
Burnley broke the deadlock through Rodriguez, who glanced home a well-weighted Jack Cork cross from the right side. Fulham almost levelled the tie at the start of the second half, with left-back Joe Bryan forcing Bailey Peacock-Farrell into a save with a wellhit right-footed volley before the ball fell to Aleksandar Mitrovic, who managed to get his own shot away.
Andrew Madley, the referee, immediately pointed to the spot in the 70th minute after a coming together be
tween Michael Hector and Matej Vydra, with the Fulham defender adjudged to have nudged the forward in the back. Rodriguez made no mistake with his penalty to double his side’s advantage.
Burnley then secured their progress in the competition through Long in the 81st minute. A long ball forward was not dealt with by the Fulham defence and Marek Rodak was unable to gather the ball, which fell to Long, who slotted home for his first club goal since September 2018.