'A Season's Work': Part Two

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A look back at a unique year which again saw the Clarets rise to the challenge and keep their place among the elite

2021-06-03T09:08:05.997Z

'A Season's Work': Part Two

A look back at a unique year which again saw the Clarets rise to the challenge and keep their place among the elite

2021-06-03T09:08:05.997Z

A look back at a unique year which again saw the Clarets rise to the challenge and keep their place among the elite

With a change of ownership in place at Turf Moor, it was a case of ringing in the new at the beginning of 2021.

And on the pitch, that meant starting an FA Cup run as the Clarets’ Premier League campaign was briefly put on hold by the fall-out from Covid.

Matej Vydra was enjoying his best season as a Claret and after scoring twice in the League Cup earlier in the campaign, the Czech international rescued Burnley in the FA Cup when he came off the bench to score a last-gasp leveller against MK Dons.

The round-three tie on a freezing afternoon at Turf Moor then went to penalties, with Will Norris emerging the hero on his Burnley debut as his two spot-kick saves carried the Clarets through.

When Sean Dyche’s men then went to Fulham and won 3-0 – thanks to a Jay Rodriguez double and a Kevin Long goal – they were in round five for just the second time in five years.

But, as in 2017, disappointment was ultimately to follow with a home defeat to Bournemouth ending hopes of a quarter-final place and a possible run to Wembley.

Back in the league – after the scheduled New Year’s game against Fulham had been postponed due to Covid in the Cottagers’ ranks – the Clarets kicked off 2021 and their new era with narrow defeats to both Manchester United and West Ham as goals proved elusive.

But Burnley were back on the scoresheet at Liverpool, where one goal was enough to seal another ground-breaking win.

The champions were unbeaten in 68 league games at Anfield but that epic run was ended by Ashley Barnes, whose late penalty earned him a place in Clarets’ folklore.

The striker became the first Burnley player to score a winner at Liverpool since Ian Brennan did so 47 years previously as Barnes’ 100th career goal became one to savour.

After the cup success at Fulham, the Clarets then made it a hat-trick of wins with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Aston Villa at Turf Moor to move further clear of the bottom three and up to 15th in the table.

Villa had won every league game of the season to date after going in front, but Burnley ended that run as they twice came from behind to seal a magnificent victory.

Ben Mee cancelled out Ollie Watkins’ opener as the skipper found the route to goal again and then after Jack Grealish had restored the Villains’ lead, two goals in four minutes capped a captivating comeback.

Dwight McNeil levelled the scores again with his first goal of the season before the winger delivered a peach of a cross which Chris Wood expertly glanced into the far corner to secure back-to-back league wins for the first time since June.

Champions League finalists Chelsea and Manchester City then proved too powerful with successive 2-0 wins as new Blues’ boss Thomas Tuchel celebrated his first win in English football and City continued their all-conquering march towards another domestic title with a 13th successive victory.

But there were more manageable fixtures to come for the Clarets and in a crucial four-game run against sides in and around the bottom three, they took points in all of them to keep the relegation places at arm’s length.

Brighton were first up, and Dyche’s side again came from behind to earn an important reward from an eighth draw in the last 11 meetings of the teams from Burnley’s 250th game in the Premier League.

The Seagulls led through skipper Lewis Dunk but the Clarets hit back in one of their most potent performances of the season which arguably merited more than a welcome equaliser from a fit-again Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who drilled home his first goal since the opening day of the 2019/20 campaign.

The FA Cup exit followed but momentum was building in the push to pull away from the bottom three and the Clarets hit one of the high spots of their season with a superb 3-0 win at Crystal Palace.

Selhurst Park has been a happy hunting ground in recent years as so it proved again as a 3-0 win built around early goals from Gudmundsson and Rodriguez and the goal-of-the-season winner from Matt Lowton – his first for the club in the Premier League – lifted Burnley up to 16th place.

An 11-point cushion above the relegation places made the next two games ‘not lose’ fixtures as Fulham and West Bromwich Albion came to town.

And it was therefore mission accomplished – despite some hairy moments against the 10-man Baggies.

Fulham, seemingly showing signs of fight in their ultimately doomed bid to stay up, led at Turf Moor but a crucial equaliser from Barnes earned the Clarets a deserved reward in what was to be the striker’s last start of the season due to a thigh injury that finally forced him onto the sidelines for an eight-game spell.

Goals were still proving hard to come by and that proved to be the case against a West Brom team reduced to 10 men for an hour following the dismissal of defender Semi Ajayi.

But on a bizarre afternoon, the outcome from a second 0-0 draw of the season against the Baggies was a decent point for Dyche’s men after the visitors missed some incredible chances to bolster what proved to be an ultimately unsuccessful fight against the drop.

Drawing was becoming a habit at Turf Moor as the Clarets went on to clock five in a row – setting a new club record in the top-flight – wrapped around their win at Palace and a 4-0 defeat at Tottenham on a tough afternoon which started with a goal conceded after 68 seconds and which didn’t get any better.

But again, it was a case of inching forward in 1-1 draws against both Leicester City and Arsenal.

The Clarets welcomed back Wood to their starting line-up against the Foxes and the striker’s return from injury was to be key in Burnley’s late push.

But it was a revitalised Vydra who scored against Leicester with an explosive early strike ending a wait of more than a year for a Premier League goal as he gave a glimpse of things to come in tandem with Wood, who was back on target with a fortunate equaliser against the Gunners to help Burnley reach the 30-point mark.

VAR was winning few friends in its first year of use but proved its worth in over-ruling a penalty and red card for Erik Pieters as the Clarets held out against Arsenal to make it just one defeat in seven games.

And that run got even better with a 2-1 victory at Everton to follow from one of Burnley’s best performances of the season.

The Clarets had never before won at both Liverpool and Everton in the same season but in a year of notable firsts added that to the collection thanks to two top-class goals.

Wood provided the first and McNeil the second as the England Under-21 international curled a beauty into the top corner to claim his first goal away from Turf Moor with an effort that was just pipped for the Clarets’ goal-of-the-season prize.

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