An impressive first half performance from Burnley gave them the three points at Griffin Park in a match dominated by the transfer saga surrounding James Tarkowski. Goals from Scott Arfield, Joey Barton and George Boyd, all of which were scored in the first 45 minutes and all of which were great goals in their own right, gave the Clarets an unassailable first half lead which Brentford tried their best to cancel out.
The biggest news of the night came about an hour before kick off, as it was announced that Brentford defender James Tarkowski, linked with a move to Burnley during the week, had told manager Dean Smith that he did not want to play in this fixture in training on Thursday. Smith shed some light on the story in his post-match press conference:
“He came to my office and said he didn’t want to play today [Friday]. I told him I thought he was making a mistake; I thought it was the wrong decision and I thought he was misguided. But I like the lad. He’s a really good lad and we all make decisions which we regret and I think he’ll regret it.”
This saga may have had an effect on the Brentford players who were nowhere near their best in the first half. They were carved open on far too many occasions and were very lucky only to be 3-0 down at half time. Burnley manager Sean Dyche pointed out in his press conference that the three goals his team scored were actually much more difficult to score than the other chances they had in the first 45 minutes.
Scott Arfield opened the scoring with a fantastic strike from long rage in the twelfth minute. Joey Barton was fouled in his own half but the referee played the advantage and Burnley moved forward. A fantastic lay off from ex-Brentford man Andre Gray, who showed that goals don’t have to be important to strikers with a top class performance in general play, allowed Arfield to strike a curling shot from 20 yards into the top corner.
In the 30th minute the men from Lancashire had a free kick on the edge of the area. Joey Barton, a man with a knack for grabbing the headlines in one way or another, stood over the ball and curled it into the goal—in off the post—with a very short run-up. It was another excellent goal which put his side two goals ahead.
Nine minutes later a poor headed clearance from Jack O’Connell sent the ball in George Boyd’s direction. He hit a stunning volley into the bottom corner to beat David Button and put his side three goals to the good. The way things were going it looked like the home side were in for an embarrassment.
Burnley had had many chances before the goals and controlled the game well. They barely allowed their opponents into their final third and the defence were never caught out of position. It was a great example of Sean Dyche at his best and his side truly showed their promotion credentials.
At half-time Lasse Vibe, who spoke to lastwordonsports on Wednesday, replaced Marco Djuricin up front. He was not able to have as much of an impact on the match as was needed if his side were to get a positive result but he helped stretch the Burnley defence as Brentford came back into the game.
Where in the first half the away side had completely overrun their opponents, the home side took control of the game and looked threatening every time they went forward. Alan Judge scored after an excellent dribble in the 57th minute and it genuinely looked like the Bees were capable of producing a famous comeback.
Lasse Vibe’s glancing header went narrowly wide in the 61st minute, and had that gone in the two quick goals could well have stunned Burnley into being overrun, but it wasn’t to be. Brentford had control of the game but were not able to turn that into consistent clear cut chances, and time gradually ran out for them to score the two goals they needed for a point.
Maxime Colin had a chance to make it 3-2 on 82 minutes but his shot in space only hit the side netting and from there Burnley began to close things out easily. The biggest chance the home team had came after an audacious overhead kick from Jack O’Connell caused a minor goalmouth scramble which was gradually cleared by the defending team.
The game ended 3-1 to Burnley who went within two points of second-placed Hull City, who have a game in hand. They certainly looked like a side capable of mounting a challenge for promotion. The Clarets have won three of their last four games—all of the wins have been comfortable, too—and have recovered from a difficult November and December during which they picked up just thirteen points out of a possible 30.
Brentford can be cheered by their impressive second half performance, but they have fallen on difficult times recently. Toumani Diagouraga, Alan Judge and James Tarkowski have all been linked with moves away from the club and have lost all four of the matches they have played in all competitions in 2016. However, their performances against Middlesbrough and Burnley, two of the best teams in the Championship, were by no means disgraceful over the 90 minutes and they should finish comfortably in the higher midtable this season. However, after the play-off finish last season it is very disappointing that they are not even close to competing for promotion this year.
