U23 REPORT: Burnley 3 Reading 1

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Successful comeback for first-team men as Clarets stretch unbeaten run

2020-12-14T16:32:04.759Z

U23 REPORT: Burnley 3 Reading 1

Successful comeback for first-team men as Clarets stretch unbeaten run

2020-12-14T16:32:04.759Z

Injured trio could be back but Covid concerns ahead of FA Cup opener

Jack Cork played his first competitive game of the season with a successful comeback to help the Under-23s continue their impressive run.

Cork completed a planned 45 minutes as an over-age player alongside Dale Stephens and Phil Bardsley as Steve Stone’s side secured a third win in four games to move up to eighth place in the PL2 Second Division – just two points behind second spot.

Joel Mumbongo scored twice and on-loan Frenchman Anthony Gomez-Mancini claimed his first goal in English football with the Clarets now unbeaten in five games.

U23 REPORT: Burnley 3 Reading 1 - Image 1

Cork – building up his fitness after recovering from the fractured foot he sustained in June – played his part in the starting line-up in a central midfield partnership with Stephens, who is also on the comeback trail after six weeks out of the first-team picture following a hamstring problem.

The summer signing completed a useful 75 minutes, with Bardsley playing the full fixture to add some important game-time to his own return to action after injury.

The presence of the senior men saw Gomez-Mancini start on the left-hand side of midfield, but that didn’t stop him popping up with the opening goal.

The 19-year-old returned from Arsenal in the early hours of the morning after travelling to the Emirates Stadium as part of the senior squad.

U23 REPORT: Burnley 3 Reading 1 - Image 2

But he was alert enough to run onto a Lewis Richardson pass and shift the ball onto his right foot and poke a shot into the top corner to give the Clarets an early lead.

The France Under-19 international then teed up Max Thompson for a shot which was well saved by James Holden as Burnley dominated early on.

But Reading got a route back into the game when Lukas Jensen dropped a cross for Jayden Owen to nod in the equaliser.

And the Royals then enjoyed a spell on top before the Clarets regained the lead in the final minute of the first half when Mumbongo grabbed his opening goal.

Bardsley and Richardson combined well down the right hand-hand side and when Richardson slipped the ball in to Mumbongo, the striker swivelled and squeezed a low shot inside the near post.

U23 REPORT: Burnley 3 Reading 1 - Image 3

The Clarets’ leading scorer could easily have left with the match-ball with a number of further chances after the break, the impressive Richardson twice the provider.

But after Jensen had made a sharp save to deny Joseph Ajose at the end of a jinking run, Mumbongo did make the points safe with another tidy finish after running onto a through-ball from Mace Goodridge – who impressed as Cork’s replacement – to slot home and wrap up a fourth win of the season.

Burnley: Jensen; Bardsley, Thomas, Nartey, Dodgson; Thompson, Stephens (Tucker 75), Cork (Goodridge HT), Gomez-Mancini; Richardson, Mumbongo. Substitutes: Richter, Taranis, Rain.

Reading: Holden; Watson, Stickland (Hewitt 85), Dorsett, Bristow; Camara (Samuels 54), Lawless, East, Ajose; McGiff (Melvin-Lambert 54), Owen.

Substitutes: Collins, Ashcroft.

Referee: Peter Gibbons