MATCH REPORT: CRYSTAL PALACE 3 – 0 BURNLEY

Palace score three in second half to take points

Burnley were in action in South London on Saturday afternoon as they came up against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, with a second half surge seeing the home side claim the points on the day.

The game was Palace manager Oliver Glasner’s first in charge of the Eagles as Vincent Kompany’s side looked to pick up three valuable points on the road.

The Burnley boss made two changes from the team that started against Arsenal last week, with Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Charlie Taylor in from the start.

The home side had the first effort within the first two minutes of the whistle, when the ball fell to Jefferson Lerma but his shot sailed over.

Palace piled some early pressure on in the opening stages with successive corners cleared by the visitors.

Trafford was alert to any danger early on when he denied Andersen at close range and not too long after his quick reactions kept Edouard’s effort at bay.

In the 34th minute, Josh Brownhill was shown a straight red for bringing down Lerma outside the area. The dismissal resulted in a change for the visitors, with Josh Cullen replacing Zeki Amdouni.

Trafford made a good stop when he got down to his right to stop a low effort by Mitchell as the Clarets aimed to get more of a foothold in the contest.

The half-time whistle came and despite several chances for Palace, the teams went in goalless.

There were no changes for either side as the game restarted and Kompany’s men looked for a goal.

Adam Wharton was shown a yellow card for Palace when he pulled Cullen back in midfield and a short while later the Clarets had more defending to do when the home side won their ninth corner of the game.

At 54 minutes a foul by Odobert on Ayew saw the resulting free-kick cleared well by the Clarets but Palace kept pushing.

Wharton’s curled effort just before the hour mark travelled wide of Trafford’s net but the second half was continuing in the same vein as the first, with Palace having the bulk of the chances.

At the opposite end a ball in by Assignon found Fofana but he headed wide of the post.

A double change for Palace saw Adam Wharton and Odsonne Edouard make way for Naouirou Ahamada and Matheus Franca.

Two minutes later Selhurst Park saw the opener when Richards headed home at the back post and a further two minutes after that the lead was doubled through Ayew who put the ball in the back of the net from close range.

A VAR check for a possible offside brought proceedings to a halt but the goal was given.

At this point Vincent Kompany made a change bringing on Vitinho in place of Charlie Taylor.

An unfortunate start saw a coming together between the Brazilian and substitute Franca in the box, with the referee awarding a penalty, which was checked and given by VAR.

Mateta stepped up to the spot and fired past Trafford to make it 3-0.

Fofana got one back when his header hit the back of the net. However, VAR were called into action again and the referee ruled the goal out for offside after a check at the monitor.

A triple change for the Clarets in the late stages saw Benson, Cork and Rodriguez introduced for Odobert, Gudmundsson and Fofana.

Palace made a switch at the same time, with Tomkins replacing Anderson.

Rodriguez was straight into the action when a foul by goal scorer Ayew on the striker resulted in a free-kick for the visitors.

Mitchell then found himself in the book for a late foul on Jack Cork.

A final change for the home side late into stoppage time saw Ozoh replace Ayew.

The defeat wrapped up a difficult afternoon on the road for the Clarets and was the first time since 2018/19 that Palace have completed the double over Burnley.

Burnley: Trafford, O’Shea, Taylor (Vitinho 74), Gudmundsson (Cork 90+1), Brownhill, Berge, Assignon, Fofana (Rodriguez 90+1), Amdouni (Cullen 37), Esteve, Odobert (Benson 90)

Unused substitutes: Muric, Ekdal, Bruun Larsen, Delcroix

Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Munoz, Ward, Richards, Andersen (Tomkins 90+1), Mitchell, Lerma, Wharton (Ahamada 66), Ayew (Ozoh 90+9), Mateta, Edouard (Franca 66)

Unused substitutes: Henderson, Clyne, Rodney, Umeh, Plange

Goals: Richards 68′, Ayew 71′, Mateta 79′