Summary
If Burnley are relegated this season, people will point to this result as a big reason why. This is definitely two points dropped and it doesn’t get any easier for them: they travel to Manchester United and Chelsea for their next two games.
The home side were absolutely dominant throughout, but were undone by sloppy defending at two corners. West Brom hardly threatening otherwise, although they remarkably could have won it as Berahino spurned a glorious chance late on with a close-range shot which was well saved by a combination of Heaton and Mee.
Burnley climb out of the relegation zone, now one point ahead of Hull, but they miss the chance to leapfrog West Brom. Thanks for your emails and tweets, this was fun. See you next time. Bye!
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Full-time: Burnley 2-2 West Brom
Daylight robbery for West Brom. What a missed opportunity for Burnley.
90+2 min: Kightly is causing Dawson some more problems but every cross that is thrown into Albion’s box is headed firmly away by one of Lescott or McAuley. The quality of play has faded here.
“Watching here in the US, and not sure if you have the same match commentators we do, but one we have was blathering on about how it was “really poor marking” on WBA’s second goal,” emails Brant Guillory. “What they’re totally missing, even though it’s clear as day on the replay, is Dawson from WBA completely shoving Jones from Burnley off of his man (Ideye) who ended up scoring the goal. It wasn’t poor marking, it was a completely illegal push that freed up the Ideye.”
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90 min: Kightly has a run at Dawson and gets to the byline before digging a low cross out, McAuley makes a mess of his clearance and it comes back out to Kightly who smashed it towards goal. A heroic block from Dawson! Shouts for hand-ball from the Burnley fans but that was a clean challenge. West Brom hanging on here. Three minutes added on for injury-time.
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88 min: What a chance for West Brom to win the game! A hopeful throw-in in lobbed into the Burnley box: a skewed header here, a mis-control there and Berahino gets his snapshot off from six yards out! Surely a goal… no! Heaton spreads himself and deflects the ball onto Mee’s thigh who was luckily standing on the line. Saved a certain goal. Pulis can’t believe it, he’s got his head in his hands.
86 min: Corner to Burnley. It has suddenly got very loud at Turf Moor. The cross is plucked out of the air by Foster. Good goalkeeping there, completely diffused the pressure.
83 min: Penalty shout for Burnley. Mee sends a cross in from the left but his cross is deflected by what looks like McAuley’s arm! The West Brom man was just inside his own penalty box, and was a good five or six yards away from Mee when his elbow made contact with the ball. On the replay, you can also see him move his arm towards the ball! That is a definite penalty! Not given! Burnley really putting the squeeze on here.
81 min: Pulis makes his final substitution: James Morrison on for Callum McManaman. The former Wigan man has faded in the last 15 minutes or so.
79 min: Yet again, Lescott comes to West Brom’s rescue. Boyd and Tripper combine down the right, the latter crossing dangerously for the 234,465’s time today. It’s headed out by McAuley but only so far as Jones, who thunders a left-footed volley towards the bottom corner. Lescott blocks. He’s had a great second half thus far.
76 min: Lescott heads off the line! West Brom survive! This time, it’s a Burnley corner, taken by Tripper on this left-hand side which finds Shackell at the back post. His header loops over Foster and is heading into the net before Lescott scampers back at nods it clear. That’s great defending actually, you can see in the replay how well the former Man City man anticipated Shackell’s header.
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73 min: Keane sends a hopeful ball forward over the West Brom defence. Barnes attempts to latch onto it, but is blocked off by Dawson, and the ball runs out for a goal-kick. Turf Moor erupts as Barnes claims for a free-kick. Not given. West Brom’s defence have got away with a few of them today.
70 min: Another corner to West Brom. Ut-oh. It’s another excellent cross from Brunt with pace and curl. Lescott gets above Keane at the back post, but he was reaching to head it, and couldn’t generate any pace. Heaton catches it cleanly.
68 min: Can Burnley re-group after that body blow? Dyche is gesturing to his player to “calm down” and doing that thing with his hands where he looks like he’s trying to squeeze something into a car boot. You know what I mean.
Predictably, Pulis’s West Brom score from another corner, again cheaply given away. Less predictably, it’s Ideye who pops up in the six-yard box and calmly glances the ball into the far corner. There was not a marker in sight. Terrible defending. They have offered the square root of nought going forward, West Brom are somehow level. You have to say the corner delivery from Brunt was first class.
GOAL! Burnley 2-2 West Brom (Ideye 66)
Well that’s one way to shut me up.
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63 min: Ideye’s in danger of losing his head here. He grapples with Mee, and when he doesn’t get the throw-in, he gesticulates wildly at Mike Dean. Yellow card for dissent.
62 min: Clumsy tackle from Ideye on Trippier. That’s the most useful thing he’s done all half to be fair, clobbering Burnley’s full-backed provider.
59 min: Burnley’s best attacks, meanwhile, are also coming down their right hand side. With Sessegnon now playing in a five-man midfield, Trippier hasn’t been so cavalier in going forward so instead he crosses from deep. Barnes is under it, jumping just in front of the penalty spot, but he gets a little nudge in the back from Dawson and fails to connect with his header. Was that a penalty? You’d probably say it would have been given in any other part of the pitch, but Mike Dean shakes his head. Dyche is incensed. Yep, he’s a hard man.
57 min: McManaman has arguably been West Brom’s best outlet on this right, but here he has been well marshalled by Mee. The Albion man jinks and sprints, but Mee stays on his feet and doesn’t commit. Good defending.
55 min: West Brom have been dreadful again this half. But a silly challenge by Trippier on Sessegnon means they have another set-piece chance. It’s taken quickly by Fletcher, which catches the Burnley rear-guard off-guard. McManaman’s touch is poor though and Shackell gets back to cover. Burnley looking nervy with those free-kicks and corners, even if they do again have the upper hand here.
53 min: “Judging by the height difference in the photo if Pulis doesn’t get the nut in the face early doors he’s going to struggle,” hypothesises D. Wacaster.
I am not going to argue with you. Or Dyche for that matter.
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50 min: McManaman just about keeps the ball in and finds Ideye, who has his first touch before sending an absolutely terrible ball forward. That’s nowhere near anyone. He’s got an awful lot to do to convince anyone he’s up to the Premier League. Very surprised he didn’t get that deadline day transfer to the middle-east.
48 min: Ooof, that’s a bad foul on Ings by Yacob. Ings had wormed his way away from Lescott and just toe-poked the ball past Yacob. The striker is unceremoniously brought down, yellow card for the Argentinian.
Peeep peeep! We’re off again!
Couple of changes to tell you about. Marney’s injury has proved too much and he’s been replaced by Michael Kightly. Baird, who had a torrid time at left-back is replaced by Albion’s record £10m striker Brown Ideye. A tactical switch then, looks like West Brom are playing three at the back.
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Half-time question: who do you think would be more handy in a fight– Pulis or Dyche?
Half-time: Burnley 2-1 West Brom
What a strange half. Burnley dominated but you can’t help but feel that that late Brunt goal could prove costly for the hosts.
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Oooohhh, Dyche will be furious. West Brom earn themselves a cheap corner on the left, which is swung towards the back post. Brunt starts his run on the edge of the penalty box and hits full stride by the time he meets the ball at the back post. Completely unmarked! Brunt nods it down into the ground which cannons back up onto the underside of the bar and in. That’s completely changed the complexion of this match, and the two managers’ team talks. West Brom have been awful but they’ve got a real chance to get something here. Burnley could easily implode here.
GOAL! Burnley 2-1 West Brom (Brunt 45+1)
A lifeline for Albion!
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44 min: Fletcher gets some rare time and space in the middle of the pitch but sends a aimless hoof straight through to Heaton. Berahino holds his head in his hands. It’s hasn’t been the debut Fletcher would have hoped for, thus far. It’s all been very forgettable this first half.
42 min: Another Burnley cross from the right, so nearly another Burnley headed goal! Tripper and Arfield combine, the former making yet another overlap before delivering to the back post. It’s a wonderful cross, but Dawson does just enough to get in front of Ings. Very close. 3-0 and that would surely have been curtains for Albion.
39 min: It might be worth highlighting Pulis’s selection in defence: he’s got Baird at left back – not his usual position – and Dawson playing right-back. They are playing really narrow and have been given no defensive cover by their wingers Brunt or McManaman.
36 min: Marney is back on his feet and back on the pitch, but he doesn’t look to be 100%. Burnley are sitting a little deeper now. It’s quite obvious they just want to see this out until half-time. Tactics have noticeably changed.
34 min: Marney is really struggling with his right knee. He’s limped off the pitch and Burnley’s physio has to sprint all the way around the pitch to attend to him. He looks knackered, the physio that is.
Tripper dummies a pass to release Boyd on the right. The Scot has time to get his head up, and delivers a telling cross toward the penalty spot. Such is the pace of the cross, and the pace at which Ings arrives in the box, a leaden-footed Foster has absolutely no chance and can only watch as the ball bounces off the turf, off the post and into the back of the net. A clinical finish. Burnley are cruising.
GOAL! Burnley 2-0 West Brom (Ings 31)
A bullet header!
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27 min: Sessegnon has dropped deeper since Berahino’s introduction, and the Beninese releases Brunt down West Brom’s left. It’s an early cross which almost catches Keane out, but the young defender is just able to poke it behind. Nothing comes from the corner. Trippier might have bags of enthusiasm going forward, he has to be aware of West Brom on the counter-attack, the right-back was caught out of position there.
25 min: Fog descends on Turf Moor, it’s actually getting hard to see the far side of the pitch, and the dugout. Which only adds to this…
@michaelbutler18 If (well, when) Sean Dyche loses his job, he can always get another as a medieval enforcer in a Wolf Hall production.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) February 8, 2015
22 min: I have to admit to knowing nothing about Scott Arfield before this season, but he’s impressed me in the glimpses that I’ve seen. This time he delightfully brings another Trippier cross out of the sky. Looks a really tidy player. Trippier is also a lovely player to watch, he relentlessly attacks down the right hand side – 14 assists for him in the Championship last season.
19 min: Since the substitution, West Brom have really come to life. McManaman again beats Mee on the right flank, but is cynically brought down. The former Wigan man has such quick feet. The resulting free kick is swung in towards the back post and Lescott rises, but plants his header high over the bar from five yards out! He’s complaining of a push, but it was probably streetwise defending from Keane to put Lescott off.
18 min: Berahino almost makes an immediate impact! McManaman works some space and sends a low cross in toward the back post. Berahino is lurking there, and would surely have tapped-in from close range, had Shackell not made a sliding clearance.
17 min: Berahino comes on for Anichebe, who looks in some kind of discomfort. It’s not immediately obvious what is wrong with the big man. The break in play allows Pulis to have a word with Fletcher. He’s not happy. West Brom have been dreadful so far.
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16 min: Berahino is warming up. He’s going to come on. 16 minutes!
13 min: Burnley are running riot on this right-hand side. Lescott is again caught out of position and Boyd has a free run to the byline. His touch is a little heavy though, which leads to a rushed cross towards Marney. It’s at an awkward height for the midfielder who can’t turn it goalward.
Another clever pass from Jones finds Barnes with his back to goal. A clever lay-off finds Ings who initially looks like he’s going to get a shot off, before being forced wide by McAuley. Ings can’t get a sight on goal so instead hooks the ball into the six yard box, and Barnes has the run on Lescott and heads into the net. 1-0!
10 - West Bromwich Albion have now conceded 10 goals in the opening 15 minutes of PL matches this season; a league-high number. Sluggish.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 8, 2015
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GOAL! Burnley 1-0 West Brom (Barnes 11)
Nothing less than Burnley deserve!
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9 min: A round of applause goes round for Jeff Astle, West Brom’s former No9. Burnley also pay tribute to the former striker with a message on the big screen. Nice touch.
8 min: WHAT. A. SAVE. Ben Foster has just made a save-of-the-season contender. Tripper gets forward and swings in a low cross towards Ings. He sets it back to the oncoming Arfield who sidefoots it first time towards the top corner. Surely a goal? No! Foster flings himself to his left and somehow gets a finger on it to turn it onto the bar. Lescott clears up.
7 min: West Brom are playing two strikers in Anichebe and Sessegnon but neither have had a kick yet. It’s all Burnley.
5 min: Trippier launches a long diagonal goalwards, which lands on West Brom’s penalty spot. Foster goes up to claim it, but the presence of Barnes makes it difficult and the England international spills it! He’s lucky to reclaim it, Barnes couldn’t get his balance back quickly enough after his jump to poke the ball into the empty net.
3 min: Chance for Ings! The first meaningful attack of the match comes from Burnley’s right-hand side with Boyd cutting in, exchanging passes with Barnes. The winger runs into traffic as he enters the box, but the ball breaks to Ings on the edge of the box – he takes one touch and lashes a shot about three yards over the bar. Foster was getting nowhere near that if that was on target.
2 min: Burnley are popping it about nicely in the opening stages, albeit in harmless areas. Dyche mouths from the sidelines “1-4-1” to David Jones. You would have thought they would have sorted tactics before the start of the game.
Peeeep peeep! And we’re off!
The teams are in the tunnel. West Brom in their navy and blue, while Burnley are sporting their traditional claret and sky blue. Darren Fletcher getting ready to lead his new team out for the first time. I can’t hear what is being said but he is partaking in a lot of banter. Ben Foster and ex-captain Chris Brunt can’t get enough of it.
The teams walk out. Arcade Fire’s Wake Up plays out across Turf Moor. Honest. WAKE UP WORLD.
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THIS IS BIG TIME.
.@BurnleyOfficial boss Sean Dyche: "These are all important games. We're back in the big time and this is big time." pic.twitter.com/ZuMeKtPXOv
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 8, 2015
There is an argument that West Brom don’t need Berahino at the moment: indeed their best striker of late has been Anichebe: the 26-year-old was particularly magnificent in the draw at Everton and bagged two well-taken goals at Birmingham in the FA Cup a couple of weeks ago. The defeat at Tottenham last week was Pulis’s first loss at West Brom – it’s fair to say they’re in decent form.
Burnley are on a three match losing streak, but have a handy knack of grinding out important home wins (QPR, Hull) against the teams around them at the bottom. They are in the relegation zone on goal difference, but could climb above West Brom today with a victory.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 24 | 33 | 56 |
| 2 | Man City | 24 | 23 | 49 |
| 3 | Southampton | 24 | 21 | 45 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 23 | 17 | 43 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 24 | 6 | 43 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 24 | 18 | 42 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 24 | 6 | 39 |
| 8 | West Ham | 23 | 8 | 36 |
| 9 | Swansea | 24 | -3 | 34 |
| 10 | Stoke | 23 | -2 | 32 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 23 | -6 | 30 |
| 12 | Everton | 24 | -3 | 27 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 24 | -8 | 26 |
| 14 | Sunderland | 24 | -12 | 24 |
| 15 | West Brom | 23 | -12 | 22 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 24 | -20 | 22 |
| 17 | Hull | 24 | -13 | 20 |
| 18 | Burnley | 23 | -17 | 20 |
| 19 | QPR | 24 | -19 | 19 |
| 20 | Leicester | 24 | -17 | 17 |
Anyway, back to the game at hand. When Burnley and West Brom met earlier in the season at the end of September, it resulted in a comprehensive 4-0 win for Albion. This was arguably when Burnley were at their lowest ebb: it was Dyche’s heaviest ever defeat at Burnley’s manager and meant his side hadn’t scored in 616 minutes of football. Berahino, who has been relegated to the bench today following his midweek outburst, scored two, with Craig Dawson (who Burnley tried to sign last summer) and man-of-the-match Graham Dorrans (who Burnley tried to sign in January) getting the other goals.
Incidentally, anybody know who ceded the QPR captaincy to Barton back in 2011? Adel Taarabt. How times have changed.
Today’s teams:
Burnley: Heaton; Trippier, Shackell (c), Keane, Mee; Boyd, Jones, Marney, Arfield; Barnes, Ings
Subs: Gilks, Duff, Reid, Wallace, Kightly, Jutkiewicz, Vokes.
West Brom: Foster; Baird, Dawson, McAuley, Lescott; McManaman, Fletcher (c), Yacob, Brunt; Sessegnon; Anichebe
Subs: Rose, Morrison, Gardner, Ideye, Berahino, Wisdom, Pocognoli.
Referee: Mike Dean
Darren Fletcher named as captain on his debut. I can remember that happening with Joey Barton when he first joined QPR but definitely a bold move from Pulis. It feels right though, Fletcher is a natural leader. What a signing he could prove to be. On a free transfer, too!
Here’s more on Dyche’s dogged refusal to change/tactical consistency. Delete as appropriate.
Sean Dyche names an unchanged side for the 10th consecutive Premier League fixture. #ClaretsLIVE https://t.co/ucL7brrVyB
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) February 8, 2015
David Jones’s face is mesmeric, isn’t it?
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Preamble
Can we all just give it up for Tony Pulis and Sean Dyche? The former has steadied a sinking ship, made canny acquisitions in the January transfer window in the form of Callum McManaman and Darren Fletcher and managed to keep hold of his prize asset Saido Berahino, even if the talented striker is proving to be a bit of a nuisance off the pitch. Dyche, meanwhile, has somehow kept Burnley in with a shout of beating the drop, despite failing to add to his squad in January, but has also managed to keep hold of his prize asset Danny Ings, who has been nothing of a nuisance off the field, and even announced that he was off the cinema in the closing hours of transfer deadline day.
Two British managers doing there thing, with a near all-British cast. In fact, the entirety of the Burnley squad is British and Irish while only three non-British players are expected to start for West Brom today (and that includes Victor Anichebe who is Nigerian but has lived in England since he was a one-year-old). Quite something in this modern age of football, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Pulis and Dyche remain two of the most uncompromising managers around. They make no apologies for their style of play, choice of headwear or facial hair. Which is either something to be admired or a dogged refusal to change despite everything falling apart around them.
We’ll have to see.
Kick-off: 12pm GMT
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