Beware
Burnley scoring first - Sean Dyche's team are now unbeaten in 36 matches
after going ahead and celebrated a top-half Premier League position
courtesy of Ashley Barnes' winner.
Until
the substitute rifled in Johann Berg Gudmundsson's cross it appeared
that the Lancashire club were to suffer a nasty dose of deja vu just as
in Crystal Palace's last Premier League visit to Turf Moor, they went
2-0 up only to be pegged back.
This time, however, it was Burnley that came up with the late goal to condemn Alan Pardew's men to a fourth straight defeat.
Two dynamic
counter-attacks within the opening quarter of an hour provided Burnley
with a buffer over opponents one place above them at kick-off.
Just
as they did here against Liverpool, Burnley made an electric start,
scoring in the second minute through Sam Vokes's close-range effort.
Then
Palace goalkeeper Steve Mandanda failed to deal with Johann Berg
Gudmundsson's drive on the run after Vokes played him through a gaping
hole in the visitors' defence.
It
represented a stunning start at the other end of the field for a team
that kept a clean sheet despite subjected to 37 shots by Manchester
United a week earlier.
Dyche
is not a manager to make changes for changes sake, and fielded half a
dozen ever-presents in the first 10 Premier League fixtures.
But
he was forced to alter his Old Trafford line-up with Stephen Ward, one
of the six, sidelined with a hamstring injury. It meant on-loan
Liverpool defender Jon Flanagan came in for a full debut at left-back.
The
other alteration in personnel saw Belgium international midfielder
Steven Defour recalled following a hamstring problem of his own while
there was also a switch to an unfamiliar 4-2-3-1 formation to combat
Palace's preferred shape.
And how they
did combat it, the introduction of Defour's composure on the ball
allowing Dean Marney to do what he does best – make life uncomfortable
for opponents and rob them of possession.
Turf
Moor itself provides inhospitable conditions for visiting teams – a
wicked wind whipped across the hills at kick-off - and Crystal Palace's
discomfort increased with the concession of a goal within 85 seconds.
It
was conceived in their own penalty area as Palace's early corner was
cleared. Full-back Matt Lowton sprang the counter-attack and although
his piercing through ball was over-hit, Gudmundsson retrieved it and
returned it into the danger zone. Lowton's volley was blocked on the
line by Scott Dann but Vokes was on hand to poke in his fourth of the
season.
Pardew's
side had conceded seven times in their two previous matches, to
champions Leicester and one of those chasing this year's crown
Liverpool.
But
with Jason Puncheon and Andros Townsend recalled they appeared to have a
distinct attacking threat of their own, and pushed hard for an
equalizer: the former having a sidefooter turned aside by Tom Heaton
from a Wilfried Zaha assist, then Zaha himself seeing a ferocious volley
repelled by Burnley's England goalkeeper.
Within seconds, Heaton's opposite number Steve Mandanda was beaten again.
The ball
found its way to Vokes, whose switch pass sent Gudmundsson racing
towards the penalty area. His shot from its fringe appeared to have been
dealt with, and drew gasps from a home crowd believing the chance had
gone, only for it to deflect off the goalkeeper's sprawling body, bounce
up off the turf and loop under the crossbar.
Palace must have wondered what had hit them.
Pardew
re-shaped them, switching McArthur and Jason Puncheon, allowing the
latter's range of passing to have more of an influence on the game from
deep.
And
they enjoyed the better share of the game's opportunities: Townsend
flashed a drive just too high from the edge of the area, Benteke first
shot straight at Heaton, then glanced a header just wide.
Pardew then re-shaped again on the hour, withdrawing Puncheon and throwing on Connor Wickham as a second forward.
Within
a minute, Wickham had halved the deficit, nipping in to defeat the
offside trap and re-direct Zaha's low cross into the top corner.
By this stage, Burnley were running out of legs and Palace's fresh ones were causing trouble.
It told 10 minutes from time when one of several deliveries into the home penalty area struck Lowton's hand.
Benteke stepped up and calmly sent Heaton the wrong way, rolling the ball into the opposite corner.
But
the contest's momentum had one last swing left in it and as Palace
chased a repeat of last January's result, the Iceland international
Gudmundsson shuffled down the right and swung over for Barnes to deliver
the decisive touch.
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