Burnley beat Newcastle 1 – 0

Burnley beat Newcastle 1 – 0. The New Zealand striker powered home Ashley Westwood’s corner from about two yards out shortly before the hour for his seventh Premier League goal of the season. Chris Wood scored the only goal as Burnley ended a run of three straight defeats with victory over Newcastle at Turf Moor.

In a game of few chances, Jack Cork had the opportunity to double Burnley’s lead but saw his effort well saved by Martin Dubravka. Dwight Gayle had the chance to equalise for Newcastle late on, but he fired wide from close range.

Burnley have kept clean sheets in all five of their Premier League home wins this season and rarely looked like conceding against a Newcastle side without several creative players, including top scorer Jonjo Shelvey and winger Allan Saint-Maximin.

Magpies striker Andy Carroll, making his second Premier League start of the season, headed wide early on but rarely had a sight of goal for the rest of the game. Burnley was equally blunt during the opening 45 minutes, with their only opportunity an optimistic long-range effort from Dwight McNeil that was pushed away by Dubravka.

It was no surprise that the breakthrough came from a set-piece. Westwood’s swirling delivery deceived Dubravka and left Wood with the simple task of nodding home. The win lifts Burnley up to 12th, six points clear of the relegation zone and one point and one place behind opponents Newcastle, who suffer their first defeat in four matches.

Burnley end losing run

Burnley went into the game on the back of six defeats in eight and having lost their past three league games by an aggregate score of 1-11, leaving them within three points of the relegation zone.

But in this remarkably tight Premier League a few wins can make a huge difference and Saturday’s victory moves the Clarets to within three points of the top six. Manager Sean Dyche was able to recall Ashley Barnes after missing the last two games with a groin problem, meaning he could resume his profitable partnership with Chris Wood.

The pair have scored 62% of Burnley’s goals in 2019, though they struggled to get much joy out of a resolute Newcastle backline. Wood remains a fearsome threat from set-pieces and his winner was his 10th headed goal in the Premier League since the start of last season, at least two more than any other player.

Cork should have sealed the win when he robbed Sean Longstaff of the ball inside the Newcastle half and evaded Federico Fernandez on the edge of the area, but his low shot was well blocked by Dubravka.

Injuries catch up with Newcastle

In contrast to Burnley, Newcastle went into this game on the back of back of successive victories, scoring twice in each game, to raise hopes that the second half of the campaign will be spent competing at the top half of the table.

But a mounting injury list looks to have caught up with Steve Bruce’s side, particularly in attack, as they failed to have shot on target for the third time this season. Hitting the ball towards lone striker Carroll was an obvious tactic, with Newcastle attempting 20 crosses from open play.

But bar an early Isaac Hayden cross that Carroll headed wide, Newcastle’s delivery into the box was poor, even from set-pieces. Magpies manager Bruce was also unhappy with referee Tim Robinson for awarding the corner that led to Wood’s goal, claiming there was a push on Federico Fernandez.

Robinson, refereeing in the Premier League for the first time, initially gave a goal-kick only to change his mind on the advice of his assistant, leaving Bruce furious on the touchline.

Source – BBC

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