Burnley earned their first win of the year and their first in 11 matches thanks to a Jacob Bruun Larsen penalty and great finish from in-form forward David Datro Fofana with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Brentford.
Having lost a 2-0 lead to West Ham United last week Burnley survived a nervy finish at Turf Moor after Kristoffer Ajer’s late goal for a crucial three points that means they are 11 off safety.
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How the match unfolded
Vincent Kompany made one change, bringing in Arijanet Muric in goal instead of James Trafford for the first time in the league.
For Brentford, Mathias Jensen replaced the injured Christian Norgaard and Sergio Reguilon returned after recovering from injury.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 |
Fulham
FUL
|
37 | -8 | 44 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
37 | -10 | 40 |
| 16 |
Brentford
BRE
|
37 | -7 | 39 |
| 17 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
37 | -19 | 29 |
| 18 |
Luton
LUT
|
37 | -31 | 26 |
| 19 |
Burnley
BUR
|
37 | -36 | 24 |
| 20 |
Sheffield Utd
SHU
|
37 | -66 | 16 |
It was a horrible start for Reguilon, who, after a VAR review, was adjudged to have conceded a penalty and was sent off for pushing over Vitinho from behind as the Brazilian was about to shoot.
Bruun Larsen stepped up to convert from the spot, slotting the ball low into the right corner just past the outstretched hands of Mark Flekken.
The Bees came close to equalising via Dara O'Shea as he played a blind backpass behind to Muric, who was instead to the left of him. But the keeper scrambled back superbly well to clear the ball off the line and save Ivan Toney’s follow-up effort.
The home side had a huge chance to double their lead when Lorenz Assignon did well to get to the byline and played a low pass across the six-yard box to Datro Fofana, who somehow missed with the goal gaping.
Fofana missed another glorious opportunity, this time sneakily hiding behind Flekken, who unaware of the forward’s position, dropped the ball to his feet, allowing the Chelsea loanee to steal in, but he slipped before he could beat the Brentford keeper.
Burnley’s second came shortly after they nearly conceded the equaliser. In the 60th minute Keane Lewis-Potter managed to break free and run in on goal, only to be stopped just as he was going to shoot by a brilliant Vitinho challenge.
The Clarets recovered the loose ball to play a lovely network of passes from one end to the other, allowing Fofana to right his wrongs and dink in his second double in back-to-back matches.
The Ivorian has been involved in five of Burnley’s last eight goals.
In the 83rd minute Brentford got a goal back thanks to Shandon Baptiste curling in a well placed cross meeting the head of defender Ajer, who found himself unmarked to direct the ball onto the inside of the post.
Despite the win Burnley remains in 19th, four points off relegation rivals Luton. Brentford also remained in their position of 15th.
Club reports
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Burnley have won three consecutive home league games against Brentford, their joint-longest winning such run against the Bees after a run of three between October 1984 and August 1995 (all in the third tier).
Brentford have lost nine of their last 10 Premier League away games (W1), losing 11 in total this season, more than any other side in the competition.
Burnley ended a run of 10 Premier League games without victory (D3 L7), since a 2-0 win against Fulham in December – with this just their second home win of the season in the competition (5-0 against Sheffield United in December).
