It may not have been the result Frank de Boer wanted as his future as Crystal Palace manager rests on the edge of a knife, but this was not the calamity-ridden football seen in the opening weeks of the season, but rather an assured team performance unfortunately hit by some seriously bad individual errors.
Chris Wood scored the only goal of the game in Burnley’s 1-0 win over Palace after he latched on to Lee Chung-Yong’s aimless back-pass to fire past Wayne Hennessey inside the opening five minutes, but Palace had more than enough chances to secure the share of the spoils were it not for some fine goalkeeping from Nick Pope, who replaced the injured Tom Heaton midway through the first-half, and a series of ridiculous misses.
Scott Dann fluffed a close-range header in injury time, having already seen two volleys cleared off the line, and Pope denied Christian Benteke the finishing touch on a well-worked team move.
The result sends the Clarets up to 7th in the Premier League table, and keeps Palace in the bottom three, without a win – or even a goal scored – to their name this season.
It took just three minutes for Wood – making his first start for Burnley following his summer move from Leeds – to open the scoring, with the goal put on a plate for the New Zealand international.
Lee played a back-pass to no one in particular, and Wood raced onto possession before curling a fine early finish past Hennessey to hand under pressure De Boer the worst start possible.
Palace could have pulled level almost instantly, but Dann’s excellent volley on the turn was cleared off the line by Lowton, with Benteke later sending a header toward goal that left Heaton scrambling – but the ball dropped just wide of the post.
Vokes also headed just wide as the action continued in an end-to-end manner during the opening 10 minutes.
Palace had reacted well to going behind so soon after kick-off, winning a number of corners with play largely focused in Burnley’s half.
Schlupp expertly created space for himself in the area but failed with his shot, McArthur went close with a header, and Heaton had to claim a cross from Lee – hurting himself in the process and leaving the field to be replaced by Nick Pope.
The substitution took much of the pace out the game, with Burnley taking control again and coming close through a fine Gudmunsson cross that Fosu-Mensah had to clear.
Townsend was the first to test Pope, but the keeper dealt well with his 20-yard strike, and Palace left the pitch at half-time behind, but certainly not embarrassed.
The visitors dominated after the restart, but for all the play they had in Burnley’s half there were few clear chances created.
The Clarets’ back line was dealing easily with various deliveries into the area, as Benteke became increasingly frustrated in the box by the lack of quality aimed towards him.
Schlupp should have levelled the scores with just under 20 minutes remaining, finding himself with space inside the penalty area, but he got everything wrong, leaning back and firing wildly over the crossbar.
Hennessey was called upon to push away Barnes’ curling strike to ensure Palace remained just one goal behind, but that was a rare attack from Burnley in a half during which the visitors saw much of the ball.
They pushed and pushed for an equaliser, and Pope made a fine save from Benteke after he had broken into the penalty area for what was Palace’s best chance of the match.
Another corner led to another Dann volley that was cleared off the line, before the centre-back headed wide from two yards out with the goal gaping as the match headed into injury time.
He fell to the turf in despair, but this is a performance that promises much more than the scoreline suggests, and could see De Boer remain in his job for one week more.
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Source: TalkSPort