Uncategorized

Burnley Stoke Fire And Get Warm Glow!

|
Image for Burnley Stoke Fire And Get Warm Glow!

The Clarets came away with a precious three points after defeating Stoke City 2-1 in the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. The victory only their second of the season was their first away win of 2014-15 and their first back-to-back win following the 1-0 defeat they inflicted on Hull City before the international break. Burnley stunned the hosts scoring two goals to lead 2-0 by the thirteenth minute thanks to a superb brace from in-form Danny Ings. The England Under 21 international netted two goals within a minute from short range to give Mark Hughes one hell of an early headache. Stoke battled hard now though and put the Clarets under a lot of pressure. Jon Walters pulled a goal back with a diving header for Stoke in the 32nd minute and now it would be a real test for Burnley to keep their noses in front. It is never easy to come away with points from the Britannia Stadium and what followed next was a remarkable defensive performance from Tom Heaton and the back four to keep Stoke City at bay and hold on for three points. That was despite a remarkable 73% possession for the hosts by the time the final whistle went.. The win at Stoke sees Burnley climb off the bottom of the table following QPR`s 1-0 away defeat to Newcastle. In fact they are now third from bottom with ten points from 12 games on a par with 17th placed Leicester who are above the Clarets only on goal difference. The Rs now prop up the table two points behind Burnley and one point behind second from bottom Crystal Palace. Palace though play their game at home to Liverpool today (Sunday) and only a defeat for the Eagles would ensure Burnley don`t drop a place. A draw for Palace would give them the same number of points as the Clarets but they would leapfrog Burnley due to their better goal difference. The win over Stoke will certainly be a confidence booster and with the Clarets now seemingly on a roll the lads will be hoping the momentum continues with struggling Aston Vila up next at Turf Moor next Saturday. Villa at the time of writing this article were in 16th spot with eleven points just one more than the Clarets but with a game in hand. They play that game in hand at home to high-flying second placed Southampton on Monday night and anything less than a win for Villa could mean we have a vital six pointer on our hands come 3pm next Saturday.

Team Sheet

Dyche made one change to the side that beat Hull in our last game. Scott Arfield picked up a calf injury in training during the week and was not fit enough to be risked. Michael Kightly therefore stepped up from the bench to take Arfield`s place on the wing and in came Ross Wallace as winger cover on the bench. On loan Chelsea midfielder, Nathaniel Chalobah was also sidelined after picking up an injury during England Under 21`s friendly game against France U21 in Brest last Monday. Steven Reid therefore made a return to the eighteen on the bench. In summary then our line up was as follows :

Heaton, Trippier, Shackell, Duff, Ward, Boyd, Jones, Marney, Kightly, Barnes, Ings

Subs: Gilks, Keane, Mee, Reid, Wallace, Sordell, Jutkiewicz-

Full Match Report

An impressive 2,464 Clarets fans travelled to the Britannia Stadium hoping to see their side continue their winning ways following their first victory of the season against Hull at Turf Moor in our last game before the international break. Not many teams come away from this ground with three points so the task was not an easy one although the Potters had struggled against teams in the bottom half of the table on home soil this season. Both Leicester and Villa came away with 1-0 wins giving hope to Burnley fans that a third victory from a bottom dweller could be inflicted. West Yorkshire referee, Martin Atkinson got the game underway and there were early signs that the visitors could be about to inflict more misery on the hosts. Both Danny Ings and Ashley Barnes were looking sharp up front but what followed next was probably not expected by even the most optimistic Burnley fan and certainly shocked Mark Hughes and his men. In the 12th minute Barnes and Ings combined well. Marney picked Barnes out on the far side of the area and the former Brighton striker put over a low cross. Michael Kightly putting pressure on Begovic forced the Stoke keeper into an error and he could only spill the ball into the path of Ings. Thank you very much said Ings and he slotted home from six yards out to put the Clarets 1-0 up. The ecstatic Burnley fans were still cheering that first goal when a minute later the Clarets remarkably doubled their lead leaving their hosts stunned and the home fans silent. It was that man Ings again! This time Kightly breaking free down the right put over a perfect cross for Ings to side-foot the ball past the hapless keeper from point-blank range. Burnley were in stunning form and nearly made it 3-0 when George Boyd tried his luck with a drive from distance that stung the keeper`s gloves. The home fans were rattled and giving their side some stick at this stage but gradually Stoke began to pull themselves together desperately trying to reduce the arrears and get back into the game. The Clarets were now under constant pressure and found it hard to get possession. They paid the price just after the hour mark when Stoke finally pulled a goal back. The visitors had been stoutly defending in their own half for some time but this time they were caught out when a half-clearance flew back into the danger area allowing Walters to pounce and dive in with a header. Heaton managed to get a hand to it but the ball flew into the back of the net to make it 2-1 and give the hosts renewed hope. It was all pressure now for the Clarets who were desperate to hold onto their lead before the end of the first half. Heaton kept out a low angled effort from Victor Moses at the near post and then denied the on-loan Chelsea winger again after flying through the air to save a curling shot that look destined for the top corner. Burnley held on though and went into the break still 2-1 up.

Neither manager made any changes for the start of the second half and the hosts` relentless pressure continued. Diouf got on the end of a Bojan Krkić cross to head inches wide with Heaton charging towards him. The impressive Moses then picked up an injury and was replaced by Arnautovic in the 56th minute closely by followed by Peter Crouch who replaced Diouf on the hour mark. Burnley though also decided to freshen up bringing on Jutkiewicz to replace Kightly in the 6oth minute. The Clarets now had three recognised strikers on the pitch but they changed tactics and moved to the more defence minded 4-5-1 with Barnes now on the right. It seemed to work with the Clarets now finally creating a few chances of their own and stifling Stoke`s attempts to draw level. Clear cut chances for the hosts though now appeared to dry up although Crouch was close to equalising with 20 minutes remaining after latching on to a cross from Bojan Krkić with a glancing header. The ball though thankfully flew wide of the far post with Steve Sidwell rushing in but unable to get a touch. Sean Dyche was forced into another change in the 75th minute when Duff picked up an injury and was replaced by on-loan Manchester United defender, Michael Keane. With the clock running down and Burnley holding onto their lead, Dyche decided to make his final substitution in the 86th minute bringing on Steven Reid for hero marksman, Danny Ings. Stoke kept pressing but Burnley nearly made it 3-1 after catching the hosts out on the break but Bejovic denied substitute, Jutkiewicz his first goal of the season. Despite five minutes of stoppage times giving the home fans some hope, Burnley held on to notch up their first away win of the season. Has the tide finally turned? Let`s hope so

Match Stats

Stoke City: Begovic, Bardsley, Shawcross, Cameron, Muniesa, Sidwell (Adam-77), N’Zonzi, Walters, Krkic, Moses (Arnautovic-56), Diouf (Crouch-60)

Subs Not Used: Sørensen, Whelan, Ireland, Assaidi

Goal: Walters 32

Booked: Yellow Cards for Diouf(24) and Sidwell(59)

Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Shackell, Duff(Keane-75), Ward, Boyd, Jones, Marney, Kightly (Jutkiewicz-60), Barnes, Ings(Reid-86)

Subs Not Used: Gilks, Mee, Wallace, Sordell

Goals: Ings 12,13

Booked: Yellow Cards for Ings (39) and Heaton (69)

Possession: 73% Stoke, 27% Burnley (Source: BBC Sport)

Referee: Martin Atkinson(West Yorkshire)

Share this article

Vital BFC Editor

5 comments

  • turfmanphil says:

    Well done lads! Great peformance and we are now on a bit of a roll! Let’s keep it up!

  • Irishclaret says:

    FANTASTIC WIN. How many teams in the top 6 will beat Stoke away & how many teams in the bottom 14 will beat Stoke away…well little Burnley did just that!!! I stated 6 weeks ago we had at least 6 players of Prem.standard…today we had i3,We have great fans,a great team & a fantastic manager.We need another 10 points minimum before Jan.& hopefully a board who will say lets go for it…we have Vokes & Arfield to come back and lets reflect so far….West Brom beat us badly…we can beat them at home…Chelsea diff class…the Gunners mmmh at home…a point!!!
    Utd away aah your only a dreamer!!!.The rest MORE than a fighting chance.We are on the way bigtime….cannot wait for Villa.UTC.

  • VinRogue says:

    I don’t post often and visit the site infrequently, but I did post this after the Arsenal defeat and I stand by it:
    Some really interesting observations, reality is that we need to win 10 games, could I suggest the following are the likely fixtures, Home games – Hull, Villa, Newcastle, QPR, Palace, WBA, Leicester and Stoke, Away games, Villa, Hull, Sunderland and Stoke. Well that is 10 from 12. Who knows we may even win one of the home games against Spurs and Arsenal (4th and 11th April). We have had a poor start if you take points as your indicator, but in many games we have competed and there are lots of positives. UTC

    Read more: http://www.burnley.vitalfootball.co.uk/matchrep.asp?a=375548#ixzz3JyT4vRh3

  • WelshClaret says:

    Can’t argue with any of that Vin, especially the comment that we’ve competed in all games (except the West Brom match).Good to see you again at the Hull match by the way. Our problem during the early matches was not converting from some excellently created chances which would have given us a result against Swansea, Palace and West Ham. But that’s football, and the main thing now is to to go forward with confidence that wins are there for the taking. Ings has found his scoring boots at last, and Vokes won’t be too long before joining him up front again. Things can only get better, and they will.

  • AndyHo says:

    Interesting stat. re Boyd. He ran further than any other Premier League player this round. 9.3 miles or something of the sort?!

Comments are closed.