Stoke 1 Burnley 2Stoke Jonathan Walters 32
Burnley Danny Ings 12, Danny Ings 13
Burnley’s resurgence continued as a quickfire brace early on from Danny Ings secured a 2-1 win at Stoke that took the Clarets off the bottom of the Premier League table.
Sean Dyche’s men had claimed their first victory of the season in their last outing by defeating Hull 1-0 at home, and they looked determined from the off to add three more points at the Britannia Stadium, with Ings taking advantage of sloppy play from the Potters to tuck in from close range in the 12th and 13th minutes.
Jonathan Walters pulled a goal back for the home side in the 32nd minute and Burnley had to withstand plenty of pressure as the game continued. But they held out for a triumph that sees them rise to 18th in the table, below 17th-placed Leicester on goal difference alone. Meanwhile, Stoke – also beaten at home by Leicester and Aston Villa this term – drop a place to 10th.
Dyche had stressed after the Hull win the importance of building on that result and it certainly seemed those words had been absorbed by his players in the opening stages here as the visitors raced into a two-goal lead.
On an individual level, those strikes also marked a continuation of momentum for Ings, who had scored twice for England Under-21s at his home ground Turf Moor during the international break.
But it was notable as well, as Burnley’s top-scorer from their 2013-14 promotion campaign notched his second and third goals for them this term, that Stoke – without the injured Marc Wilson and Erik Pieters in defence – had provided him with a significant helping hand for each goal. First, Pieters’ replacement Marc Muniesa lost the ball and in the move that followed, Asmir Begovic’s parry from Ashley Barnes’ cross teed Ings up nicely for a slotted finish. Then, just over a minute and a half later, Burnley’s former Stoke man Michael Kightly got the better of Phil Bardsley and had the space to burst forward down the left and cross to an unmarked Ings, who once again despatched the chance.
With the away support going wild, George Boyd looked to add another goal, sending an attempt from outside the box into Begovic’s arms.
Stoke then began to get into the game, with the lively Bojan Krkic having a shot deflect wide. Soon after, the Spaniard provided the delivery which Walters converted with a diving header, goalkeeper Tom Heaton getting a hand to the effort but unable to keep it out.
Victor Moses – he of the recent diving “cheat” accusations from Swansea’s Garry Monk – then had penalty claims waved away after going down in the box in a questionable-looking manner, before curling in a shot that Heaton palmed away.
Stoke’s quest for an equaliser continued after the break as Moses skewed wide, Mame Biram Diouf just failed to meet a delightful Bojan cross properly with his head, and the referee Martin Atkinson dismissed Potters claims that Kieran Trippier had handballed in the penalty area.
Moses then departed the field clutching his thigh, Marko Arnautovic coming on in his place, before Steven Nzonzi sent the ball over Heaton’s bar from a cut-back to the edge of the area.
While Mark Hughes looked convinced Burnley were taking every opportunity to eat up more minutes, he will also have been frustrated by his own side’s further exertions not yielding a goal, with a couple of attempts from substitute Charlie Adam proving unsuccessful.
Burnley held firm with some brave defending and might have even scored a third goal during the closing stages as Begovic denied the substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz.
The Burnley goal was still not out of danger, with Begovic joining the action at that end and passing up the last real opportunity of note, heading off-target from a corner.
