Match Report
Burnley (0) 2-2 (2) Fulham
Premier League Match Day 23 23/24 at Turf Moor
Saturday 3rd February 2024 KO: 15:00
Referee:
Darren Bond (Lancashire)
|
Fulham were forced to settle for a point as Burnley came back in dramatic fashion at Turf Moor.
Quickfire goals from João Palhinha and Rodrigo Muniz gave the Whites a degree of comfort for most of proceedings, before David Datro Fofana's double in the last 20 minutes of the game - including one in added time - meant the points were shared.
There were a trio of changes deployed from our goalless draw with Everton, as injuries to Raúl Jiménez and Issa Diop paved the way for Muniz and Tim Ream, whilst Harrison Reed came back into midfield ahead of Tom Cairney. New man Armando Broja started on a youthful looking bench.
Burnley started on the front foot and broke the lines a couple of times in the early stages. Ream did brilliantly on one occasion to nip in ahead of his man after Lyle Foster had slotted the ball through to avoid a shot coming Bernd Leno’s way.
Sander Berge did get a shot off with just over 10 minutes gone as The Clarets pushed, but Fulham were being resilient at the back meaning the midfielder had to shoot from range and the effort was comfortably saved as a result.
Andreas Pereira’s whipped ball in from the right almost lined up perfectly for Timothy Castagne as Marco Silva’s side looked to mount a threat of their own, but a nick off a Burnley defender meant our right back couldn’t get a clean connection at goal.
Pereira delivered again moments later with great effect. From a corner our Brazilian maestro put a perfect in-swinger onto the head of Palhinha, who guided it calmly into the back of the net from close range to put us ahead.
This was to be supplemented by a second goal just a few minutes later, this time with our other Brazilian involved. Antonee Robinson managed to hook a ball over the top with his right foot which Muniz raced onto before lofting the ball over James Trafford and in to give Fulham some breathing space.
Another Robinson ball over the top caused trouble with 10 minutes of the half remaining to feed Pereira making an advanced run, but Trafford stood firm to parry his effort from an acute angle.
Wilson Odobert had Burnley’s biggest chance of the half 5 minutes from the end of it as the winger got in down the left, but his shot was always bending away from the goal in the end.
| Match Stats |
Burnley |
Fulham |
| Goals |
(0)2 |
2 (2) |
|
| Scorers |
Fofana 71 |
Palhinha 17 |
| Scorers |
Fofana 91 |
Muniz 21 |
| , |
| Goal attempts |
12 |
15 |
| On target |
4 |
7 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
33% |
47% |
| Possession |
44% |
56% |
| Passes |
378 |
485 |
| Passes Success |
75% |
76% |
| Crosses |
11 |
24 |
| Crosses Success |
36% |
38% |
| Corners |
2 |
13 |
| Tackles |
13 |
11 |
| Tackles Success |
85% |
55% |
| Saves |
0 |
0 |
| Fouls |
11 |
7 |
| Offsides |
1 |
1 |
| Yellows |
2 |
2 |
| Reds |
0 |
0 |
| source: SkySports |
Vincent Kompany’s half-time words seemed to be having an instant effect after the restart as his side had a sight of goal straight away. Vitinho did well down the left before his cross eventually found Josh Brownhill, whose hook towards goal didn’t have enough momentum to cause Leno any stress.
The Whites quickly regained control thereafter and went close to adding a third on 56 minutes, when a quick corner from Pereira to Willian allowed the latter to fire one towards goal. From the resulting corner Tosin towered over everybody to ping a header on target which Trafford had to parry up and over.
Fulham had a chokehold of the game now and were doing all they could to put it out of reach for the hosts. The latest barrage came down the left with Willian finding the overlapping Robinson, whose direct low ball in had to be shanked wide by a Burnley leg.
Brownhill had a sighter on 65 minutes against the run of play, but it was only rising and rising over Leno’s bar from distance.
Five minutes later Burnley did get a goal back through David Datro Fofana. On the counter-attack men in claret surged forward quickly eventually ending up with a crossing opportunity down the left for Lorenz Assignon, which he took, lofting the ball over Leno for his teammate to nod into an empty net.
Broja was given his debut with 15 minutes remaining, as he entered the field alongside Cairney, with Kenny Tete also coming on 10 minutes later.
Just as added time commenced Burnley completed the turnaround and it was Fofana once again who tapped home from another cross to draw the game level.
Fulham manager Marco Silva:
"There is frustration of course in our dressing room at the way we lost two points this afternoon. Until the moment they scored for 2-1 we are the best team in the pitch. We could have made it 3-0 instead of 2-1 but for their exceptional goalkeeper who kept them in the game.
"We lost two points because they punished the mistakes, it's not the first time it has happened.
"You have to be stronger at this level. If you make mistakes of course you are punished. For 70 minutes we played so well but you cannot switch off and be naive like we were."
Burnley manager Vincent Kompany on David Fofana's impact:
"I think that was a turning point for us, the performance of Fofana, the performance of Maxime Esteve, the performance of Assignon and the other players who came off the bench, that was a turning point for us.
"We have to have this week-in, week-out. We can use any help we can get and David showed today that he gives us something different and we will need it.
"I've not spent one second talking with him about what he did in the Premier League or with Chelsea. But he's played in the Bundesliga, which is a very, very tough league and he's a player that comes back with a wealth of experience."
Burnley : Trafford, Assignon (Massengo 90), O'Shea, Ekdal (Esteve 45), Vitinho (Bruun Larsen 87), Brownhill, Berge, Ramsey (Gudmundsson 64), Odobert, Amdouni (Fofana 64), Foster
Unused substitutes: Cullen, Al Dakhil, Tresor, Muric
Goals:
Fofana 71 (After another corner breaks down, FINALLY Burnley break with some quality. Foster releases Assignon down the left, and his cross is inch-perfect for Fofana.
Leno gifts him a first goal in Burnley colours by stepping out to the edge of his six-yard box and getting nowhere near it, leaving an empty net for the Chelsea loanee to nod into.
Excellent goal nonetheless. And now, some hope.
Assist: Assignon)
Fofana 92 (Odobert charged past Tete and down the left flank and he crosses for Fofana to bundle home his second, and Burnley's equaliser!
Brief VAR check for a potential handball, but the goal is given!)
Booked: Berge (84,f), Fofana (92,ex cel)
Fulham : Leno, Castagne, Adarabioyo, Ream, Robinson, Palhinha, Reed, De Cordova-Reid (Cairney 74), Pereira (Tete 85), Willian, Muniz (Broja 74)
Unused substitutes: Rodak, Ballo-Toure, Lukic, De Fougerolles, Sekularac, King
Goals:
Palhinha 17 (It's been a game of set-pieces so far - and the first quality delivery brings us the first goal of the afternoon.
Pereira's near-post curler from another Fulham corner is begging to be hit, and there's no way Palhinha is letting Odobert get the better of him. It's like little and large in the Burnley box.
His flick doesn't give Trafford time to adjust and the ball's past him before he can stick an arm out.
In a game between two teams so lacking in form, that's a huge goal.
FPL Assist: Pereira)
Muniz 21 (We're not even half-way through the opening 45 minutes and Fulham's fans might already be celebrating a rare victory here.
Muniz will take the plaudits, but this is all about Robinson's flick.
Burnley clear the ball up to the half-way line where the American shows his strength to lean into Amdouni and lift it forward again.
Vitinho is caught half asleep as he fails to keep up with the offside trap and allows Muniz to control the bouncing ball and lob Trafford, who gets two hands on it, but not enough to deny Fulham a quick second.)
Booked: Reed (43,f), Pereira (45,dis)
Referee:
Darren Bond (Lancashire)
Attendance: 20,203
Next Saturday in the Premier League; kick-off 3pm. Fulham host Bournemouth.