Although it may not seem like it now, Burnley’s regrettable loss to Crystal Palace was a positive development

admin | November 5, 2023 | Other Clubs | No Comments

You know your luck is out when a side that shows no intent to win a game whatsoever comes away with a 2-0 victory.

This was a remarkable game in that Crystal Palace showed no adventure whatsoever. They didn’t press, they didn’t attack and they struggled to string a pass together.

Burnley controlled the game, they passed with much more intent and fluency and created plenty of chances, yet – in a cruel summation of their miserable campaign to date – they still somehow conspired to throw away the three points.

Their performance was very good, arguably their best of the season to date. They produced an impressive 17 shots on goal and dominated 63 per cent of the possession.

But the fact they weren’t able to convert any of those 17 shots is a telling statistic in itself. They’ve now failed to score in six of their 11 league games this season, proving they lack a real cutting edge in the final third.

That was no more evident than on this occasion at Turf Moor, where a relative modest Expected Goals (xG) of just 1.12 proves they weren’t able to create many opportunities of real quality.

Instead, a lot were from range or from the angle. Sam Johnstone, meanwhile, wasn’t really tested until late on in the game when he denied Josh Brownhill and Jay Rodriguez.

Reasons for optimism

Nevertheless, Burnley fans should be encouraged by this display. They might not necessarily feel like it right now, but their side were much improved.

They were barely competitive against Brentford and were deservedly beaten by Bournemouth, so the pressure was on to deliver a performance first and foremost before even thinking about the result. They got that performance here, just not the latter.

But Vincent Kompany will know there’s still a great deal to be worked upon, namely their quality in the final third and wiping out the defensive errors that continue to mar their game at the other end of the pitch.

On this occasion it was the returning Jordan Beyer, who was expected to be the difference at the heart of the defence, who was responsible.

It had been one-way traffic in the opening stages, with Burnley doing all of the running. But all of that good early work was undone within an instant when Beyer was outmuscled by Jordan Ayew, before slipping, allowing the Palace man to slide the ball across the face of goal for Jeffrey Schlupp to steer home.

Roy Hodgson’s side had offered absolutely nothing up to that point, they’d barely even ventured near Burnley’s box. Yet the lead was gift-wrapped and handed right over to them.

The hosts have so often gone under this season after suffering a setback, but on this occasion they responded well.

Luca Koleosho was their main attacking threat, giving Joel Ward at right-back nightmares to the point where he had to be hauled off. Johann Gudmundsson also drafted a header just wide.

The second-half was much of the same, attack vs Palace’s stubborn defence. The Clarets were adept at working the ball into the final third, but to the visitors’ credit, they defended the box well and got numbers and bodies around the ball.

Further chances came and went, Gudmundsson dragging a shot agonisingly wide and Koleosho blazing over after being picked out in space.

But to rub further salt into Burnley’s wounds, Palace somehow managed to add a second deep into stoppage-time. With the home side pushing men forward, and Dara O’Shea clearing weakly straight to a Palace man, Tyrick Mitchell was able to go through one-on-one and slip the ball past goalkeeper James Trafford.

Speaking of Trafford, he had been given nothing to do all afternoon yet still had to pick the ball out of his net on two occasions.

Home discomfort

And so Burnley were left to reflect on another stinging defeat, becoming the first side in top flight history to lose their opening six home fixtures at the start of a season, which is an unwanted record if I’ve ever seen one.

Not only that, the run actually extends to eight games if you factor in the two defeats at the end of the club’s 2021/22 relegation season.

‘Defeat’ seems to be the operable word, because that’s now nine in 11 for Kompany’s men. But this was different to many of the others, on this occasion they couldn’t have done much more.

In other games, they’ve been well off the pace, but here against Palace they were the side doing all the running, they were asking all of the questions and constantly probing.

That was reflected in Hodgson’s glowing post-match assessment of Burnley’s performance, which suggested he knew his side were lucky to come away with the points.

“We’ll go back to London happy, whereas I’m sure Burnley will feel very aggrieved that they didn’t get more from their performance, but if they keep playing like that then they will,” the ex-England boss said.

“We’re delighted with the three points, but commiserations because I guess there are more Burnley journalists in this room than London ones. You should be very kind to the team and praising their performance because I thought they did really well.”

Of course it’s easy to be so generous with your praise when you’ve just won, but still, Burnley haven’t had many compliments this season, so they’ll just have to take what they can get.

Of course it goes without saying putting in a better performance isn’t the be-all and end-all, it’s the result that counts. But nonetheless, it’s a step in the right direction.