Two years ago Newcastle defeated Burnley to send them down to the Championship and the Clarets’ 22nd loss of this season felt like having the same result this time around as the hosts capitulated.
Once Callum Wilson opened the scoring there was no way back for Vincent Kompany’s side who were completely outclassed, suffering at the feet of Newcastle’s wingers, Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon, who helped move the visitors up to sixth. Burnley are five points from safety with two games to play and only the greatest of optimists thinks they have a chance of extricating themselves.
Burnley need to win their final two games, starting with a trip to Tottenham, and hope others fail to pick up points. “I am not beaten by it or defeated by it,” Kompany said. “We have to look at the Spurs game as the final day of the season, if the other teams lose and we win, then all of a sudden we have a different discussion before the next game. If they win and we lose, at that time it is over. We have a final day of the season and that is on Saturday [against Tottenham]. If we get a bonus with the game against Forest, then that is our final. That is how we need to look at it.”
Burnley fans are used to the pattern of a promising start extinguished by a sucker punch goal. Newcastle were unable to cope with the ferocity the Clarets offered across the pitch but, despite being in promising positions, the hosts were unable to find an opener or even test Martin Dubravka.
As Burnley have found out all too often this season, they can concede in the blink of an eye. Newcastle produced their best move of the match in the 19th minute. It started at right-back but quickly moved up the pitch thanks to quick passes, resulting in Murphy sending in a low cross that Alexander Isak jabbed at goal, forcing Arijanet Muric into a reflex save, only to see Wilson tap the rebound in from close range.
Murphy earned an outright assist when he pounced to collect a loose ball in the box and pull it back to Sean Longstaff to steer into the corner and leave Burnley staring at a 12th home defeat and second-tier football. Everything was too easy for Newcastle and a naive Burnley could not adapt. “We came up against a better team today,” Kompany admitted.
It has been a regular occurrence that Burnley have been punished for failing to play out from the back and with Newcastle in the ascendancy it was unsurprising that another example arrived. Lorenz Assignon was the culprit on this occasion, losing possession 25 yards from his own goal to Dan Burn, who passed to Gordon, allowing him to create the easiest of chances for Bruno Guimarães to sidefoot beyond Muric.
Gordon did further damage after the break when he breezed past Josh Brownhill into the box before being clipped by the Burnley midfielder. On a desperate day, as the rain poured, there was a brief moment to celebrate for the majority as Muric dived to his right to stop Isak’s penalty.
Isak need not worry about his failure from the spot for too long, as he bundled home his team’s fourth soon after. Murphy drove into space inside the box and pulled it back to Isak, who took a touch and did the inevitable. Burnley had fallen apart.
“I think our delivery and execution was at the highest level today,” Eddie Howe said. “From our first goal onwards, I think it was a really good display from us. The strength and confidence is returning to the group. A really good day for us. Our away form has been inconsistent, so it was really good to see us win away from home in such an impressive way.”
Thousands streamed out with 20 minutes to go, leaving a sparse crowd to witness Dara O’Shea’s 86th-minute consolation. The fans had already accepted their fate.
