Newcastle hold on to earn crucial win over struggling Burnley despite Matt Ritchie’s remarkable miss
Burnley 1-2 Newcastle: Goals by Federico Fenandez and Ciaran Clark sent the Magpies into an early lead which they never relinquished
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Matt Ritchie will be probably be able to laugh off one of the Premier League’s all-time misses given the result.
Newcastle United’s left-wing back suffered acute embarrassment at Turf Moor, somehow finding the side-netting from three yards when faced with an empty net early in the second half. Had his side not held on to the 2-1 lead they held, it would have felt like his longest coach journey home of the season.
Instead, his team-mates brought to an end a curious statistic; Newcastle had lost their previous 10 Monday night Premier League games.
For Burnley, the statistics are starting to look alarming. They are six games without a Premier League win, and just one point above the relegation zone.
The match kicked off half-an-hour late, having been delayed because referee assessor Eddie Wolstenholme collapsed in the players’ tunnel during the build-up. Wolstenholme, a former Premier League referee based in Blackburn, was conscious as he left the stadium to be taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
It would be tempting, but wrong, to suggest that Burnley’s underwhelming start might have been a reaction to the disruption. Sean Dyche’s side have not been themselves for most of the season, and given that they finished the last campaign with a five-match winless run, their form can no longer be put down as a temporary aberration.
To Dyche’s fury, Burnley conceded two first-half goals from poorly defended short corners. It is inconceivable they would have been so sloppy last season.
The visitors scored from their first serious attack, after Ben Mee had deflected behind a Mohamed Diame shot. From the ensuing set-piece, Ki Sung-yueng was given far too much room to cross, and Chris Wood effected a woeful clearance, before Federico Fernandez steered a shot that appeared to be going wide before it looped up off Mee’s boot and into the net.
Wood’s attempts to atone quickly brought no joy; he stretched to turn Matt Lowton’s cross on the run into the stand, and then hit an optimistic 25-yard drive that goalkeeper Martin Dubravka spilled, before the ball was cleared.
Just as Burnley were trying to figure out how to recover a one-goal deficit, it doubled, with their defence once again showing no sign of coherence.
Matt Ritchie played a one-two with Ki following another short corner and then crossed from the right for Ciaran Clark, in at left-back for the injured Paul Dummett, to glance a header past a motionless Hart.
The home side must have feared they were out of contention, given Newcastle’s ability to defend in depth under Rafa Benitez, but Sam Vokes’ magnificent header gave them hope in the closing minutes of the half.
The Wales striker produced an extraordinary leap to out-jump Clark as he met Mee’s ball from the halfway line, sending a header looping over Dubravka and into the net.
Wood almost equalised as the match moved into stoppage time at the end of the half, but his volley was pushed away by the Newcastle goalkeeper, whose team-mates may have been relieved to get to the interval with an advantage.
If Newcastle ended the first half with a major wobble, they began the second aggressively, and would have gone further in front but for that amazing Ritchie miss.
Burnley began to increase the pressure, sensing a point. Wood’s snapshot on the turn was held by Dubravka, and the New Zealand striker was close again moments later, latching on to Robbie Brady’s angled pass and fashioning a shot that was blocked by the sliding Yedlin.
Wood continued to get himself into scoring positions, only to meet frustration, sending a clear chance into the night sky after Aaron Lennon had turned Brady’s cross back into the centre from beyond the far post.
Newcastle should have been secure going into the final 10 minutes, but substitute Joselu smacked against the post when it seemed easier to score from Ayoze Perez’s through ball. It was a remarkable miss, yet not even the worst of the night.
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