Burnley vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Premier League.
Turf MoorAttendance18,497.
Report and highlights as James Tarkowski scores the only goal of the game
Saturday 8 December 2018 19:03, UK
Burnley ended an eight-game winless run with a 1-0 victory against Brighton in the Premier League, taking them out of the relegation places.
The Clarets had not won in over two months heading into Saturday's game - last beating Cardiff on September 30 - but ground out a vital victory at a wet and windy Turf Moor.
James Tarkowski turned home a Jack Cork shot with his midriff in the 40th minute to lift Burnley into 17th place on 12 points - two ahead of Huddersfield in 18th.
For Brighton, they slip down a place in 11th and their own three-game unbeaten streak comes to an end.
The opening half an hour was a tepid affair, with Burnley have the first shot of the game on the 30-minute mark. Johann Berg Gudmundsson's cross picked out Robbie Brady at the top of the box. He hit the ball first time, but his connection was not the best as it flew over the top of the crossbar.
Five minutes later and Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan was forced into two good saves. Brady's ball into the area was controlled well by the chest of Ashley Barnes, who then tapped it into the path of Chris Wood. However, his shot at the post was saved well by Ryan. He was down low again not long after to collect a Brady shot that fizzed through a packed box.
Burnley took advantage of their pressure in the 40th minute, although it was a scrappy affair. Gudmundsson put a cross into the area after a cleared free-kick, picking out Ben Mee on the left. His ball forward was cleared by a Ryan punch, with the rebound falling to Cork. He struck and the effort was turned home by the midriff of Tarkowski to see the hosts ahead.
Eight minutes after the restart, and Burnley had a penalty appeal turned down. Yves Bissouma tried to clear a Ryan pass with a high boot as Phil Bardsley came in to meet the ball with his head. The Burnley defender went to ground, apparently being caught, although Bissouma did get to the ball first as Martin Atkinson waved away the claims with Burnley now going 58 Premier League games without being awarded a penalty.
Tarkowski nearly scored another in the 62nd minute after a brilliant corner delivery from Gudmundsson and although the defender rose highest to meet it, the ball just whistled past the back post.
Brighton could have snatched a point with seven minutes of normal time to play as they pummelled the Burnley box. Glenn Murray lofted a superb ball into the box to meet the run of Jurgen Locadia, but he put his header over the crossbar from just inside the six-yard box as the hosts saw out the important victory.
Sean Dyche: "It certainly feels better than some results recently. It was a very resilient performance and more like us. We've been trying to get ourselves back to that and we need to know there is more quality to come. We know there's more ability to come from the players but we needed to get back to a basic framework that works for us and has worked for us so many times.
"That was on show today against a side that do equally keep it tight, so we didn't think it was going to be a flurry of goals. We thought it might be a tight game and it ended up being exactly that."
Chris Hughton: "It's disappointing because I thought we were the better team," he told Sky Sports. "Probably what we weren't able to do was capitalise on our good play, particularly in that final third, but you're up against a team that are fighting hard and they had to defend well.
"The positive is the level of performance was good. We had a defeat a few games ago where we couldn't argue because our level of performance didn't deserve to get anything more than we got, but I thought we deserved more today."
Gudmundsson was back to his best on Saturday and it is no surprise that Burnley won with him playing well. He gave Brighton the runaround down the right flank - especially in the first half - and got back to clear the danger in the box on a few occasions too.
His set-piece deliveries were of a good quality and he had a hand in the build-up to the goal. It was a shame he went off injured in the 73rd minute with fatigue possibly playing a factor as he popped up all over the Burnley pitch. Hopefully, he just needs rest and will be back in action next weekend.
Burnley are on their travels next Saturday when they take on Tottenham at Wembley in the Premier League. Brighton will be playing on Sunday, December 16 when they welcome Chelsea to the Amex Stadium.
