By Burnley FC
April 29 2017
Crystal Palace 0 Burnley 2 Burnley finally ended their away-day hoodoo with a capital performance and a magnificent victory which puts Premier League safety within touching distance.
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The Clarets produced their best away display of the season and this time were rewarded with the three points which lifted them to 14th-place in the table – eight points clear of the relegation places. Ashley Barnes followed up his match-winning goal against Crystal Palace in November with another to take his total for the season to half-a-dozen as the highlight of a first half bossed by the Clarets. And then following a superb rearguard action after the break, substitute Andre Gray broke clear to bury the late second which gave Burnley their first ever Premier League win in London at the 16th attempt. It also ended Palace’s 10-game unbeaten run against the Clarets at Selhurst Park on a memorable evening which brought the best out of Sean Dyche’s side. Dyche is also due his share of the credit after making four changes to his starting line-up, which paid off to a tee. The absence of Joey Barton and the injured Ben Mee forced two of them, with James Tarkowski stepping in to play a big part in helping keep a 10th clean sheet of the season. And in front of him, Ashley Westwood and Scott Arfield added some fresh energy to a midfield which supported the twin strikeforce of Barnes and the outstanding Sam Vokes – who were too hot for Palace to handle. Palace had won six of their eight previous league games, prior to a mid-week loss to high-flying Tottenham, to also put themselves within touching distance of safety and predictably started with all guns blazing. The Clarets had to see off a hat-trick of early corners and Tom Heaton made a flying save to keep out a well-struck drive from top scorer Christian Benteke. To read the full match report please click on the link below; |
