Burnley 1 - 0 Stoke

Burnley 1 - 0 Stoke

George Boyd edges Burnley closer to survival with victory over Stoke

Home team scorers
George Boyd 58

Fortress Turf Moor has protected Burnley once again. An air of uncertainty had begun to grip Sean Dyche’s team and their Premier League status following a worrying run of form but another home triumph, their 10th in total, edged them closer to survival against Stoke City.

George Boyd’s instinctive second‑half finish was sufficient to see off a Mark Hughes’s team who have badly lost their way on the road this season and maintain the stark contrast behind Burnley’s survival bid. They have now taken 32 of their 35 points on home soil this term and fought tirelessly to preserve an invaluable lead as the substitute Peter Crouch attempted to haul Stoke back into the contest. Imagine if Burnley could replicate this form on their travels?

There was no shortage of attacking intent, commitment and organisation on show from both teams at Turf Moor but a painful lack of quality in both penalty areas helped to explain their recent struggles. Stoke, with six defeats in their past eight away games, created the better openings in a first half low on incident but Marko Arnautovic squandered two clear sights of Tom Heaton’s goal to leave his supporters aghast. Burnley needed the reprieves in their current predicament.

Dyche’s team were under pressure to take maximum points with only four home games remaining. They have struggled to collect them anywhere else this season, taking a meagre three from a possible 45 on their travels, and a run of seven games without a win raised the spectre of a relegation scrap for the first time since what had appeared a solid return to the Premier League. Burnley were a comfortable 10th after beating Leicester City here on 31 January but began the night in 15th place and only five points clear of Hull City, who are third bottom.

Defensively the Clarets remain disciplined and compact. They also enjoyed a healthy amount of possession against Stoke but were often forced into retreat by Hughes’s 3-4-2-1 formation, to the audible irritation of the home crowd, or saw Sam Vokes and Andre Gray struggle to hold up play when they did venture forward.

The visiting goalkeeper Lee Grant had only a routine save to make in the first half from a Ben Mee header while Heaton saved twice from Charlie Adam, with a glancing header and a powerful drive from distance, and Arnautovic rightly had a penalty claim against Mee dismissed by the referee, Kevin Friend. The forward’s shot clearly struck the defender’s arm inside the area but Mee had both arms tucked by his side.

Arnautovic should have given Stoke the lead when a misplaced corner from Burnley enabled Adam and Saido Berahino to break on the counter attack. The Austria international was played clean through on goal by Berahino but a dreadful first touch gifted the ball straight to Heaton. He was given a second bite on the stroke of half‑time, again from a delightful Berahino touch, but attempted to square the ball back to the striker instead of shoot and wasted the opportunity once again.

The second half began in similarly ominous, and comical, fashion when Adam attempted to take a corner, tripped on his approach, stumbled knee-first on to the ball and inadvertently handled to concede a free-kick to Burnley. At least he and Hughes managed to see the funny side. Their smiles were removed, however, when the hosts produced a rare moment of quality in the final third.

Jeff Hendrick was the provider with an incisive run from central midfield into the Stoke penalty area beyond two weak challenges. The Republic of Ireland midfielder crossed low from the left and Boyd, from 12 yards out, swept a first‑time shot beyond Grant’s despairing dive.

Guardian