Burnley 1-0 Newcastle Seven Things: Compact Clarets

Hendrick celebrates the winner – bbc.co.uk

In an encounter high on defensive diligence but low on attacking chutzpah, Burnley beat Newcastle United 1-0 on Monday night thanks to Jeff Hendrick’s second half goal. Here’s seven things from the game.

Burnley’s early pressing

The Clarets pushed high up the pitch early on and crowded Newcastle out quickly, stopping them develop any momentum. Jack Cork and Steven Defour controlled the central areas, Ashley Barnes hassled and harried as Hendrick had a couple of sights at goal in the first five minutes. The Irishman fired wide from a tight angle within seconds of kick-off, before heading off-target following Robbie Brady’s right-sided corner.

Shelvey’s spell of control

There was a brief period when Burnley’s attempts to press in a classic 4-4-2, with Hendrick up alongside Barnes, put their midfield under pressure. Jonjo Shelvey’s quality use of the ball allowed Newcastle to play through the gaps and get to the edge of the final third, where the midfielder fired straight at Pope on 17 minutes after Christian Atsu’s lay-off.

Compact Clarets

Burnley thereafter dropped into a deeper setup which denied space in their own half but made it hard for them to get men in the box. Stephen Ward’s crosses from the left therefore often went unrewarded, though the mixed quality of his deliveries and Rob Elliott’s handling were also factors. To make space for the left-back, Brady too readily drifted inside where he found it harder to use his left-foot effectively, although the ex-Hull man nearly caught out Elliott on 28 minutes with a tight-angled dink.

Post-interval flashes

The early stages of the second half hinted at a more open contest with Joselu and Ayoze Perez, anonymous before the break, combining for the first time. After Javier Manquillo’s throw, the former touched the ball on smoothly to the latter, whose curling right-footed effort was well tipped away by Nick Pope. Seven minutes after the re-start, Brady’s diagonal free-kick from deep then found James Tarkowski, whose back-post header was straight at Elliott.

Lost in transition

While both teams were well organized, there were moments when either might have found gaps in front of the opposing defence, but lacked the pace to open things up after the turnover of possession. The only quick player for Toon was Atsu, who didn’t capitalize on his lively moments with a convincing end product, while only Johann Berg Gudmundsson offered an occasional outlet for the Clarets.

The winner

It was in fact the Icelander who set up the winner for Burnley. Florian Lejeune, who had previously dominated Barnes, lost his positional bearings and Jamaal Lascelles, otherwise equally impressive, rushed out to close down Gudmundsson. He squared for Hendrick, who tucked the ball into the roof of the net despite the last-ditch attempts at salvation from DeAndre Yedlin. That proved the winner, after substitute Isaac Hayden’s injury-time drive was pushed away by Pope.

In summary

The ex-York goalkeeper has now kept five clean sheets in nine games in all competitions for Sean Dyche’s side, who once again showed impressive organization to go as high as seventh. Newcastle by contrast, could have gone up to sixth with a victory and might regret the manner of their performance. Rafa Benitez was keen for his side not to underestimate their opponents, but his rigid tactical setup perhaps led them too far in the other direction, with the players not enjoying the freedom to express themselves further up the pitch. A missed opportunity for the Magpies – but a great night for Burnley.