DEFEAT BUT 'DECENT PERFORMANCE'

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Boss Sean Dyche pleased with approach as Clarets rise to occasion

2021-08-21T14:59:22.705Z

DEFEAT BUT 'DECENT PERFORMANCE'

Boss Sean Dyche pleased with approach as Clarets rise to occasion

2021-08-21T14:59:22.705Z

Boss Sean Dyche pleased with approach as Clarets rise to occasion

Sean Dyche felt his side dealt with the occasion and the opposition for long periods before the Clarets left Anfield empty-handed.

Goals either side of the break from Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane gave Liverpool a 2-0 victory as fans returned en masse for the first time in 18 months.

A crowd of 52,591 made it a special occasion but Burnley weren’t there to just make up the numbers with Dyche pleased to again push the former champions all the way.

“We did make it difficult. I thought we handled the atmosphere – because it was electric before the game,” said the Burnley boss, whose side ended Liverpool’s 68-game unbeaten home Premier League run last season.

DEFEAT BUT 'DECENT PERFORMANCE' - Image 1

“I thought we handled that well and I thought we handled our performance well.

“We created chances, as well as defending, and could/should have had a penalty in my opinion.

“We come away at half time 1-0 down scratching our heads a little bit from a soft goal from our point of view.

“In the second half we started really well and then they just started to get a control of the game and scored a second.

“When you got 2-0 down it’s tough at places like this but we kept going to the end, so I was very pleased with the mentality.”

The Clarets felt they may have had a first-half spot-kick when Dwight McNeil was bundled over in the box by Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold.

And McNeil caused the Reds plenty of problems either side of Jota’s headed opener.

Winger boosted by Anfield performance as Clarets prepare for busy week

Liverpool finally gave themselves some breathing space when Mane swept home a second with 20 minutes to go to make it back-to-back wins to start the season for the Reds.

Burnley are still waiting for their first point but again turned in an impressive performance, which almost yielded them a late goal to trigger a possible fightback.

“I was pleased with that. They had a really strong spell, which they can do, at 2-0 up and keeping the ball and it’s tough then,” Dyche added.

“But we kept probing and working for the chances and they came. We didn’t quite take them and if you take one, you never know.

“We’ve seen that happen where they get nervous and the stadium gets nervous.

“We didn’t quite find that edge when it was important but overall it’s not easy to come here today and I thought it was a decent performance.

“It’s important to remember the bigger picture; that is we continue to be a work in progress.

“We are light again with numbers. We are trying to be active in the market. It’s not easy but we are trying and we’ll see where that takes us.”

The Clarets – whose 1-11 line-up was thought to be the first in the Premier League since 1998 – were without both Ashley Westwood and Matej Vydra.

But Dyche’s is hopeful Westwood won’t be a long-term absentee with a toe injury, while Vydra is under-going treatment for a groin injury as the Burnley boss looks ahead to Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle and the opportunity to share the workload across his squad.