Crystal Palace 0 – 3 Burnley
The Clarets came into the game as the division’s lowest scorers but quickly set about changing that in the opening 10 minutes, thanks in large part to the hospitality of the home side.
Burnley took advantage of some woeful defending before Matt Lowton scored a superb volley as they brushed aside a limp Crystal Palace to move further clear of the Premier League’s bottom three.
A lack of communication at the back and a fluffed attempted clearance from Scott Dann allowed Johann Berg Gudmundsson to turn and fire in the opener before Jay Rodriguez headed the second directly from a corner.
It provided an early mountain to climb for a Palace side without their injured top-scorer and talisman Wilfried Zaha.
Despite naming a team with Christian Benteke, Michy Batshuayi, Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze all starting and so seemingly possessing considerable attacking potential, the hosts failed to even leave base camp.
Their challenge was all but ended shortly after the break by the game’s highlight, with Lowton driving past two challenges before exchanging passes with Rodriguez and lashing a volley across home keeper Vicente Guaita and into the far corner of the net.
Having failed to record a league win until the ninth game of the season (also over Palace), Sean Dyche’s side are now on the up, with the 11-point gap between themselves and the bottom three not insurmountable but sizeable enough for comfort.
The only negative for Burnley was the loss of two defenders to injury late in the game. Captain Ben Mee was stretchered off after a clash with Ayew, with Erik Pieters seemingly pulling a groin muscle soon after. Both will now be a doubt for important upcoming fixtures with Fulham and West Brom.
Palace are three points better off than the Clarets, with 29 on the board. They’re unlikely to go down, but will either need a fit-again Zaha soon or a serviceable plan B without him to avoid a long, miserable trudge through the second half of this campaign.
Source – BBC News
