Burnley prove victory over United was no fluke

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Burnley 1 Everton 0: SO MUCH for experience. Owen Coyle has been operating in the Premier League for eight days and already he has the scalps of two fellow Scots with a combined total of 30 years' wisdom at this level.

First it was Alex Ferguson’s annoyance that announced Burnley’s return to the top flight. Now David Moyes has discovered there will be no easy pickings at Turf Moor. He will not be the last manager leaving Lancashire in torment this season.

Everton remain mired in trouble but expect to complete the €11.5 million signing of the Lokomotiv Moscow winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and sell Joleon Lescott – who is due to have a medical at Manchester City today – for €25 million.

Burnley, by contrast, refuse to be distracted from the ideals that have served Coyle so well. It says everything about their evolution that they will head for Stamford Bridge next weekend without trepidation. The positives of beating United exceeded three points. There was a belief and energy about Coyle’s players, a conviction that having beaten the champions the Premier League should hold no fear for a club that spent 33 years out of the top flight.

Burnley should have been two goals to the good inside the opening three minutes and the pressure on Everton’s goal was unrelenting. There was inevitability to Burnley’s breakthrough even though it came in the midst of Everton’s strongest spell. Jack Rodwell almost gave the visitors the lead with their first effort of note, a header from a Leighton Baines corner that Brian Jensen held on his goalline. Seconds later Louis Saha was millimetres shy of converting Tony Hibbert’s cross at the back post.

Burnley were rattled only briefly. Having inflicted defeat on United, Robbie Blake was again to the fore in this victory, with an angled shot that deflected across the goalmouth and into the path of Elliott. The midfielder miscued at the first attempt but, given a second bite by Fletcher, he lofted a shot towards the far corner and a slight touch off Phil Neville’s foot took the ball over Howard and in off the post. Turf Moor erupted for the second time in five days as Elliott celebrated scoring in all four divisions in English football.

Everton wasted a chance to level with 16 minutes remaining when Chris McCann was adjudged to have tripped Hibbert inside the area but Saha pulled his spot-kick hopelessly wide.

Guardian Service