Burnley clinched the Championship title with a hard-fought win over rivals Blackburn Rovers in the East Lancashire derby at Ewood Park. Despite a tense first half in which both teams struggled to find the back of the net, Manuel Benson’s brilliant second-half strike was enough to break the deadlock and secure the Clarets’ victory. Both sides were limited in clear-cut chances in front of the goal in the tense match, with Blackburn creating more chances and having strong penalty shouts waved away in the final few seconds of the game. The defeat hurt the Rovers’ chances of making the playoffs, dropping them to eighth place after seven league games without a win.
Burnley came into the game after two draws and a 2-1 loss to QPR in their previous outing, which ended their unbeaten record at Turf Moor. The team had been promoted back to the Premier League on April 7, but their charge for the Championship title had stalled. It appeared that nerves were getting the better of Vincent Kompany’s side, which produced no shots on goal in the first half.
Despite lacking a clinical edge, Blackburn finished the first half in command, with Tyrhys Dolan sending a tame shot at Ari Muric and Dom Hyam seeing a volley from a corner comfortably saved. Soon after the break, Sammie Szmodics had a chance to put Rovers ahead, but Muric was able to hold him off. Vincent Kompany began making substitutions just before the hour mark, and it paid off, with Benson scoring his 10th league goal of the season eight minutes after coming on as a substitute.
As Burnley broke into Rovers’ half, the Belgian bounded down the right, shifting the ball onto his left foot and launching a long-range shot past Aynsley Pears into the far corner. Deep in stoppage time, Szmodics came close to equalising, sending the ball across the face of goal and almost beyond Muric, but a quick piece of Burnley defending turned the ball behind for a corner. Ashley Barnes appeared to stretch his arm out to block Callum Brittain’s cross in the fifth and final minute of stoppage time, but referee Tim Robinson turned down Blackburn’s appeals.
After the final whistle, tempers flared between some players and both benches, but things quickly calmed down so Burnley could celebrate in front of their 2,000 fans. “We are at two different places,” said Blackburn Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson. “But we were the best team today,” said Burnley, who has been in the Premier League and has parachute money. He also acknowledged that their performance was excellent against the best team in the league, and they were dominant in the second half before Burnley scored.
“I don’t know if the lads realise it, but I think J-Rod (Jay Rodriguez) does because he’s one of the people I was speaking to,” Burnley manager Vincent Kompany said. I believe J-Rod understands what it means for the people of Burnley to come to Ewood Park and win the league; you couldn’t write it for us.” He expressed pride in his team’s defensive play, which was another aspect of the team he was proud of. “There are two awards you win this season, which are promotion and the league, then there are two more trophies to win, which are your derbies, and we’ve won all four this season,” he said of winning all four derbies this season.
Main Image: Lancs Live
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