Southampton 3 - 1 BurnleySouthampton’s Charlie Austin cuts former club Burnley down to size
Home team scorersCharlie Austin 52
Nathan Redmond 60
Charlie Austin 66 Pen
Away team scorersSam Vokes 72 Pen
Sean Dyche quipped after this match that Charlie Austin “is a good-luck omen for us, we sold him for £4m and have had two promotions since then”, but that is gallows humour.
Since leaving Burnley in 2013 Austin has scored four goals in four matches against his former club and his two strikes here helped to extend Southampton’s quiet progress under Claude Puel while condemning Burnley to another away defeat.
Austin demonstrated his growing importance to Southampton by opening the scoring early in the second half and then netting a penalty.
Nathan Redmond, a wriggly menace all afternoon, interspersed that brace with a nice goal of his own before Sam Vokes converted a penalty to become the first player in seven matches to infiltrate Southampton’s exceptionally vigilant defence.
Puel appeared unconvinced about Austin earlier in the season but the striker has forced his way to the forefront of his plans thanks to a scoring streak that now stands at seven goals in his last six matches. He and Southampton had so many chances here that they should have finished with an even bigger tally.
Dyche admitted that Southampton were the stronger side but argued with strong justification that pivotal penalty decisions went against the visitors.
The hosts would have taken the lead in the fifth minute if Austin had not been thwarted by a wonderful save by Tom Heaton. The chance was created by Matt Targett, who fired in a cross from the left. Austin applied a textbook downward header from six yards but Heaton responded by giving a lesson in top-class goalkeeping, plunging quickly to his left to push the ball around the post with a strong hand. Austin used his own hands to clasp his head in disbelief.
Heaton is an England squad member and Dyche said the save was akin to the famous one that Gordon Banks made from Pelé in 1970 or Joe Hart’s against Slovenia last week. Heaton was required to give many more demonstrations of his ability before the end of the match.
Burnley struggled to find any weakness in Southampton’s defence even after Targett was forced off with a hamstring injury in the 14th minute. This was the third match of Andre Gray’s four-match suspension for online comments made long before he joined Burnley, who have been punished severely by his absence.
They had a grievance here when Virgil van Dijk brought an unceremonious end to a run into the box by Johann Gudmundsson. To Dyche’s dismay the referee, Mike Dean, waved play on and Southampton did exactly that, Dusan Tadic sweeping a fine pass into the path of Austin. Austin attempted a long-distance lob over the stranded Heaton but got it pitifully wrong, squirting a low shot wide.
Tadic was presented with an even better chance a couple of minutes later thanks to a mighty clearance by Fraser Forster. Heaton stood up as the forward bore down on him and then made a straightforward stop. Southampton tried to beat Heaton a couple of more times before the break but Redmond and Van Dijk were both foiled without fuss. Burnley’s satisfaction with their goalkeeper was offset by the loss of Steven Defour. The midfielder has become influential since being purchased in August and was missed here after succumbing to a hamstring injury just before half-time.
That blow was compounded in the 52nd minute when Austin helped himself to a reward for his persistence. Van Dijk headed the ball across goal from a corner and it deflected off Jordy Clasie’s shoulder to Austin, who tried to hook it into the net from two yards. Vokes blocked it but Austin stabbed the rebound into the net. Austin could not conceal his joy, which was understandable in view of his earlier misses and the fact that his four-year old daughter, Ava, was watching from the stands for the first time.
The visitors’ lack of a cutting edge made a comeback unlikely. The possibility became even more remote eight minutes later, when Redmond doubled the hosts’ lead. It was a sweet finish by the forward, who lashed a low half-volley past several bodies and into the net from 16 yards following a corner.
Six minutes later Sam McQueen, the 21-year-old who came on in place of Targett to make his Premier League debut, showed that while he may be inexperienced he is not without wiles, as he tumbled in the box following a gauche challenge by Gudmundsson. “Simulation, possibly, I believe it’s called,” Dyche said. Austin duped Heaton into the diving one way and rolled the ball into the opposite corner.
Burnley’s only consolation was that they scored their first away league goal of the season after José Fonte was adjudged to have illegally blocked a run by Ben Mee as Burnley delivered a corner. Vokes converted the spot kick but the hosts’ victory never looked in danger.
Guardian
