Burnley 1-4 Newcastle United: Woeful home defeat leaves Clarets on the cusp of relegation

We witnessed a return to the bad old days at the start of the season where Vincent Kompany’s men would start brightly, fail to capitalise and subsequently fall to pieces after going a goal down.

The Clarets were torn to shreds by the Magpies at times and the scoreline could easily have been even heavier.

As soon as Newcastle edged ahead, Burnley heads dropped and they never recovered - and relegation now seems like an inevitably.

With Nottingham Forest beating Sheffield United, the Clarets are now five points adrift of safety with only six points left to play for.

Josh Brownhill was reinstated to Burnley’s starting XI as Kompany made just one change to the side that battled to a point against Manchester United last time.

David Fofana was the man to make way, dropping down to the bench following his recent dip in form.

For Brownhill, it was his first Burnley start since being sent off against Crystal Palace back in February.

Ameen Al-Dakhil, Jordan Beyer, Aaron Ramsey, Luca Koleosho and Nathan Redmond all remain sidelined.

As for Newcastle, they made two changes to the side that thrashed Sheffield United 5-1 last week.

Former Claret Nick Pope, who has been out injured with a shoulder injury since the start of December, was back on the bench, but Kieran Trippier remains out.

Burnley’s good run of form, which had seen them lose just one of their last eight, has given them real momentum heading into the final three games of the campaign.

The buzz and confidence was there for all to see right from kick-off, with Burnley coming firing out of the blocks.

Vitinho won the hosts a corner inside 30 seconds which Lorenz Assignon fired back into the danger area. The ball was deflected and could have gone anywhere, but the Magpies just about cleared.

Burnley remained on the front foot though and Jacob Bruun Larsen was thwarted by Martin Dubravka after being picked out behind Newcastle’s backline. The winger then dragged a shot wide as the hosts looked to capitalise on the boisterous atmosphere.

That noise soon turned to cries of anger in the eighth minute when Burnley were denied a penalty.

Assignon appeared to be shoved to the ground inside the box by Bruno Guimaraes, but referee Anthony Taylor waved away the appeals.

The Frenchman was Burnley’s biggest attacking threat in the early stages and he tried his luck from range with an effort on his weaker left foot. He made clean contact with his effort but Dubravka was equal to it.

At the other end, Callum Wilson was booked for diving inside the Burnley box after Maxime Esteve dangled a foot.

There were ironic cheers from the home end, but they were soon silenced after Wilson gave the Magpies the lead shortly afterwards.

From Burnley’s point of view, it was a goal given away far too easily. Jacob Murphy was given too much space down the right to pick out Alexander Isak in the centre. His close-range effort was well saved by Arijanet Muric but Wilson was there to tap home the rebound.

The atmosphere predictably fell flat at this point and Newcastle sensed they could add a quick second.

A second would have duly arrived were it not for Muric, who made a point-blank save from Tino Livramento after the full-back had been picked out in acres of space.

Burnley finally did hit back with their first chance in some time when Lyle Foster was allowed to take the ball down and turn, only to send a fairly weak effort wide of the Newcastle goal.

The Clarets had to be careful though, they couldn’t commit too many men forward otherwise they would be picked off on the break.

That’s almost what transpired just after the half-hour mark when Anthony Gordon fired narrowly wide following a quick counter.

Newcastle did eventually double their lead eight minutes before the interval with another soft, soft goal from Burnley’s perspective.

Wilson outmuscled Maxime Esteve far too easily down the channel, allowing the ball to fall at the feet of Murphy. He pulled the ball back to Sean Longstaff who did the rest, firing across Muric into the far corner.

Five minutes later, two became three as Guimaraes was given far too much space inside the Burnley box and subsequently slotted home past Muric.

Assignon was guilty of giving the ball away in a really poor area, which allowed the visitors to open up the Clarets with alarming ease.

At this stage, Newcastle were tearing Burnley apart at will and were threatening to hit Kompany’s men for four, five or six.

Esteve, who had endured a torrid first-half, had to be brought off in first-half stoppage-time with a knock to be replaced by Hjalmar Ekdal.

At the start of the second-half, Burnley did at least emerge with some energy, with Foster blazing over from a tight angle.

A moment later, Burnley were staring down the barrel of shipping a fourth when they were awarded a penalty following Josh Brownhill’s foul on Gordon. Muric was equal to Alexander Isak’s spot kick though to keep the score at 3-0.

It remained that way for all of two minutes, with Isak atoning for his miss by lashing home from close range following more abject defending. Vitinho was the main culprit, allowing Murphy to race past him, but Burnley’s subsequent defending from the ball into the box also left a lot to be desired.

Muric denied Newcastle a fifth with still over 20 minutes to be played, tipping Guimaraes’ curling effort around his spot.

Sander Berge almost got one back for Burnley when he fired a low effort just past the post after being allowed to run to the edge of the Newcastle box.

The game was drifting away to its conclusion, but the Clarets did net a late consolation when Dara O’Shea looped a header into the back of the net from a corner.

But by the time the final whistle sounded, there was barely a Burnley fan left inside the ground.

TEAMS

Burnley: Muric, Assignon, O’Shea, Esteve (Ekdal), Vitinho, Cullen, Brownhill (Amdouni), Berge, Bruun Larsen (Gudmundsson), Odobert, Foster (Fofana)

Subs not used: Trafford, Taylor, Benson, Tresor, Rodriguez

Newcastle: Dubravka, Livramento, Krafth, Burn, Hall, Longstaff (Joelinton), Guimaraes, Murphy (Anderson), Gordon (Ritchie), Wilson (Barnes), Isak (Almiron)

Subs not used: Pope, Dummett, White, Murphy

Referee: Anthony Taylor