Burnley registered their first win in 11 Premier League games as Vincent Kompany’s relegation-threatened side defeated 10-man Brentford 2-1 at Turf Moor.
The Clarets took the lead through a 10th-minute Jacob Bruun Larsen penalty given after a foul on Vitinho by Sergio Reguilon, who received a straight red card.
David Datro Fofana, having been guilty of a remarkable miss late in the first half, then doubled the advantage with a finish just past the hour mark.
Kristoffer Ajer pulled a goal back for Brentford with eight minutes of normal time to go but Burnley were able to see out what was their first victory of 2024, and only their fourth in the league this season.
Boss Kompany had emphasised pre-match that he had not given up hope of avoiding relegation and after ending their winless run, the gap between second-bottom Burnley and safety stands at eight points with nine games left to play.
Fifteenth-placed Brentford, meanwhile, are four points above the drop zone as their own sequence without victory extended to a sixth match.
Kompany made one change from last weekend’s 2-2 draw at West Ham, opting to drop goalkeeper James Trafford – previously an ever-present in the league this season – and bring Arijanet Muric into the team for his Premier League debut.
One of those coming into Brentford’s starting line-up as boss Thomas Frank made two adjustments from the 2-1 loss at Arsenal was the fit-again Reguilon, whose return proved extremely short-lived.
An early Burnley attack saw Josh Cullen swing the ball into the box, where Vitinho went to ground following contact from behind from the on-loan Tottenham defender.
VAR intervened and after referee Darren Bond had watched the incident back pitchside, a penalty was awarded, Reguilon was given his marching orders and Bruun Larsen coolly sent the spot-kick past Mark Flekken.
Ivan Toney headed over as Brentford looked to hit back, and Burnley then breathed a sigh of relief when Dara O’Shea misjudged an attempted pass back to Muric and the goalkeeper slid to clear the ball off the line with his boot, then saved Toney’s follow-up effort.
At the other end Fofana somehow missed when looking certain to score from close range having been teed up by Lorenz Assignon’s cutback.
Muric then produced a fine save to deny Yoane Wissa, before Fofana, having lurked behind Flekken as he prepared to take a kick, emerged to nick the ball, only to be thwarted by the Dutchman as he tried to take it past him.
After Charlie Taylor put a shot over the Brentford bar early in the second half, Fofana was then able to redeem himself in the 62nd minute as he was played in by Wilson Odobert and slotted past Flekken.
Burnley’s push for more included Zeki Amdouni’s shot being held by Flekken, before their lead was halved by Ajer heading in a cross from Shandon Baptiste.
The Clarets had been 2-0 up against West Ham only to be held 2-2 and fans may have been fearing a repeat as Muric kept out a Keane Lewis-Potter header.
A lengthy period of stoppage time – in which replacement Amdouni was substituted himself – then saw the ball in the Burnley net but no goal given with Toney being penalised for a challenge on Muric, before the final whistle confirmed three points for the hosts.
Failed England experiment does not change anything, says Carsley
Interim boss Lee Carsley insists the failure of his false-nine experiment in England's 2-1 Nations League defeat to Greece will not have any bearing on his future in the role.
Carsley missed the chance to become the first Three Lions boss to win his first three competitive games at the helm since Fabio Capello on Thursday, as Greece left Wembley with a stunning victory.
Vangelis Pavlidis scored twice – including a dramatic 94th-minute winner – as Greece went top of Nations League Group B2 with their first competitive victory over the Three Lions.
With captain Harry Kane sidelined by injury, England lined up with no recognised striker, with Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer interchanging in a fluid system.
England's 12 shots only added up to 0.86 expected goals (xG), with Bellingham's 87th-minute equaliser their only shot on target in the second half.
"We were second best for a lot of tonight, it is disappointing. You are going to get setbacks, and it's important that we respond," Carsley told ITV Sport after the defeat.
Only Anthony Gordon (five) managed more than four touches in the Greece area for England, with Bellingham, Foden and Palmer only recording one shot inside the box between them.
Carsley, who has been placed in interim charge through to the end of next month's final Nations League fixtures, is choosing to view the defeat as part of a learning curve.
"We tried something different and tried to overload the midfield. We tried it for 20 minutes, we experimented, and we're disappointed it didn't come off," he said.
"It's unrealistic to expect too much, and we will have to try again. All the goals were from mistakes, which is disappointing.
"It is definitely an option going forward. When you have someone of Kane's quality, though, it rules it out when he is available.
"But in the future, you have to have the courage and ability to try things. We tried something different. It doesn't change anything. My remit is to do the three camps."
Man Utd's Mazraoui sidelined after undergoing heart surgery
Manchester United full-back Noussair Mazraoui will be absent for several weeks after undergoing a minor heart procedure.
Mazraoui joined United from Bayern Munich in a deal worth an initial £12.8million (€15m) in August and has quickly established himself as the Red Devils' first-choice right-back.
He has started all seven of their Premier League games this season, with Erik ten Hag's men taking just eight points to record their worst-ever start to a campaign in the competition.
On Monday, he withdrew from Morocco's squad for two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Central African Republic, having experienced heart palpitations.
Widespread reports on Thursday then said Mazraoui had successfully undergone a corrective procedure and would return within a few weeks.
Mazraoui was withdrawn at half-time in United's goalless draw with Aston Villa on Sunday, with Harry Maguire also replaced at the interval.
Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are long-term absentees, meanwhile, leaving Ten Hag's men short in defence ahead of their return to action against Brentford on October 19.
Australia 3-1 China: Goodwin a hometown hero in Adelaide
Craig Goodwin scored a stunner and set up Australia's equaliser as they beat China 3-1 in Tony Popovic's first game in charge.
Popovic replaced Graham Arnold in September and, despite seeing his team fall behind in Thursday's World Cup qualifier, was ultimately able to celebrate a convincing win.
Goodwin was playing in front of a hometown crowd in Adelaide and smashed in a long-range, left-footed strike to put Australia in front in the 53rd minute.
The 32-year-old had earlier crossed in for Lewis Miller to head home on the stroke of half-time.
Miller's goal cancelled out Xie Wenneng's 20th-minute opener for China.
Substitute Nishan Velupillay completed the scoring late on, marking his debut in style just nine minutes after coming on.
Data Debrief: Goodwin gets Australia going
Goodwin has had 12 shots at goal and created 27 scoring chances for Australia in 2024 – the only Socceroos player to have logged 10+ in both categories.
Australia won from behind in World Cup qualifying for the first time since beating Syria in 2017, as they snapped a two-match scoreless run.
China, meanwhile, have lost their last four matches, conceding 13 goals in that run. They last lost four straight games in 2003.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
