David Datro Fofana’s first loan spell of the season was defined by being suspended for refusing to shake his manager’s hand after being substituted during a Union Berlin defeat to Napoli. On his Burnley home debut, the striker was willing to embrace people all and sundry, throwing himself into the crowd to celebrate a 91st minute equaliser against Fulham. His only reprimand on this occasion was a yellow card but it was worth it.
There were boos as Vincent Kompany trudged across the pitch at half-time, his Burnley team two goals down to Fulham and staring down the barrel of a 10th home defeat of the season but an hour later the mood had drastically changed thanks to Fofana’s double. Despite the joy, the Clarets are seven points adrift of safety and risking a 15-match Premier League farewell tour.
Burnley offer plenty of promise in the final third, zipping passes around and creating promising situations but have lacked a cutting edge. Fofana provided that, first finding space to head home unmarked after a superb break, before bundling home the leveller.
“I think it was a turning point for us, the performance of Fofana, [Maxime] Estève and [Lorenz] Assignon. David showed today that he gives us something different and we will need it,” Kompany said. “He is a player that has played in the Bundesliga. That is a very tough league and he comes back with a wealth of experience.”
Fulham were in control prior to Fofana’s introduction thanks to two first-half goals. Burnley debutant Assignon learned a valuable lesson having let a deflected cross go behind thinking it would be a goal-kick, only for a corner to be awarded. Andreas Pereira whipped the ball into the near post where it was flicked by João Palhinha on to Sander Berge’s shoulder and into the net.
Steam might have been blowing from Kompany’s ears when an aimless Antonee Robinson clearance looped over the Burnley defence, allowing Rodrigo Muniz to latch on to the ball and lob James Trafford, who got a palm to the shot but had to watch it bounce over the line as he conceded his 47th league goal of a very porous season.
“I saw a team at half-time that had character, passion and wanted to fight,” Kompany said. “The lads had a go at each other, they went out and five minutes later were in a huddle and they were ready to run their socks off so that is what they did and they got their reward for it.”
The boos offered inspiration, while the introduction of another January signing, Estève, brought a calming presence to the Burnley defence, something they have lacked for much of the season, while Trafford made impressive saves to keep the deficit at two. Burnley turned a Fulham corner into a counter, Lyle Foster slipped a pass down the line for Assignon, who lifted a cross over a flapping Bernd Leno to the back post. The unmarked Chelsea loanee Fofana headed into the empty net on his home debut to create an intriguing final 20 minutes.
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It was Fofana again who made the difference in the box as he dived to send a low cross from Wilson Odobert beyond Leno after Kenny Tete failed to cut out a long pass. There was a VAR check for a potential handball but no offence was found, leading to a second eruption. Draws will not be enough to keep Burnley in the league but at least this comeback gave fans a rare moment of euphoria.
“Until the moment they scored for 2-1, we were the best team on the pitch – definitely,” the Fulham coach, Marco Silva, said after an 11th away match without a win. “Great saves from their goalkeeper kept them in the game but we lost two points because of mistakes from ourselves, and we were punished.”
