Ashley Barnes scored twice as Burnley made a winning start to the new Premier League season against Southampton at Turf Moor.
Clarets striker Barnes shot through the legs of Saints goalkeeper Angus Gunn from summer signing Erik Pieters’ cross to score the opener with the hosts’ first shot on target after 63 minutes.
The pair again linked up seven minutes later as Barnes fired into the corner to double the advantage before midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson added a third from a tight angle as Sean Dyche’s side got their campaign underway in style.
Southampton’s summer signing Che Adams narrowly missed the target in the opening minutes, and Nathan Redmond also went close for the Saints with a powerful, rising shot at Nick Pope’s goal before the interval.
The video assistant referee system, making its debut in the Premier League this season, upheld an offside call that had ruled out Burnley striker Chris Wood’s effort after 16 minutes – and was called on to review two potential first-half red cards.
Adams arrived high and late on Burnley’s Ben Mee, and Clarets midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson crunched in on Ryan Bertrand – but neither was shown a card.
Burdened by the additional demands of Europa League qualifying 12 months ago, the Clarets endured their worst start to a top-flight season since 1927 to leave them bottom of the table with one point from their opening five matches.
An impressive unbeaten run at the turn of the year, during which they looked more like the side who finished seventh a year earlier, ensured a fourth consecutive top-flight season at Turf Moor.
With attention solely on the league at the beginning of 2019-20, Dyche called on his side to learn from the challenges faced in the previous campaign – and they could not have hoped for a more promising start.
After battling through even first half, the Clarets – who had rarely threatened – blew Southampton away in the space of 12 minutes as Barnes demonstrated his quality in front of goal.
Having suffered a club record 10 home league defeats last season, this was first and foremost a typically solid performance, built on captain Mee and James Tarkowski’s partnership.
But after recording the lowest number of top-flight attempts on goal last season, discovering a clinical edge was a challenge for Burnley this campaign – and one to which Barnes duly responded.
In other news…
Myanmar landslide kills 41 and many feared missing
The death toll from a landslide triggered by monsoon rains in eastern Myanmar rose to at least 41, an official said late Saturday, as emergency workers continued for a second night their desperate search through thick mud for the scores feared missing.
A huge brown gash on the hillside marked where the deluge of mud flooded onto Ye Pyar Kone village in Mon state on Friday, wiping out 27 homes. Search and rescue teams worked through Friday night and into late Saturday, using excavators and their bare hands to recover bodies from the deep sludge. read more…
Source – BBC
