English Premier League - Game 29 - Burnley FC (Away)
Burnley have been overachieving this season, and are actually in the thick of the battle for European qualification, sitting 4 points off 4th place. Liverpool and Chelsea have escaped the pack and are fighting it out for 2nd, so only one CL spot is really still up for grabs.
Laporte picked up a knock fairly early and was replaced by Nishimura in the 19th minute. Chambers shifted into central defence.
In the 36th minute Ward-Prowse sent a ball through for Vietto. The angle was too tight for a shot, so he chipped it across goal, and Asensio finished with an impressive volley.
Ward-Prowse hit the bar from just outside the box in the 46th minute, and it fell straight into the grateful arms of Heaton.
In the 51st minute Nishimura’s chipped cross was headed onto the bar by Gitschier. His followup was straight at Heaton, but Vietto cleaned up the mess to put us two ahead.
Larsson replaced Wanyama in the 66th minute.
Gitschier then picked up a knock, so he was replaced by Doebel in the 70th minute. The German switched with Asensio.
Two minutes later Doebel cut infield brilliantly and slipped a ball through for Vietto, but Heaton was right on top of him when he got to it, and deflected his shot wide.
Vietto was tackled in the 75th minute but Doebel’s lightning pace saw him take the ball in his stride and race through, but it was a tough angle and Heaton made the save.
Sandro almost scored an impressive solo goal in the 79th minute but Dragowski kept his effort out.
In the 88th minute Burnley tried to counter, but when Chambers won the ball they were caught out, and we showed them how it was done. He passed to Doebel, who sent it infield for Asensio. The Spaniard went surging forward before knocking the ball into the path of Vietto, whose first time effort from just outside the box found the top left corner! Brilliant way to cap off a classy display from my star striker.
Jacobsen added insult to injury a minute later when Dimarco cut the ball back to him, and he stepped inside three defenders before picking out the top right corner. Quality finish.
A couple of classy late goals saw us add some gloss to a scoreline after Tom Heaton had previously done a good job of keeping it down. Another impressive performance on the road. We have sealed qualification for the Champion’s League for next season, which has been a matter of when rather than if for a long time now. We face Spurs in the FA Cup next, before we host Paris Saint-Germain in the most important match of the season so far. Hopefully the injuries to Laporte and Gitschier are minor enough that they’ll be available, as both are critical players.
POM: Luciano Vietto (9.4, 2G, 1A)