Second-bottom Burnley ended their 16-game winless run thanks to a seven-minute Crystal Palace capitulation, which helped Scott Parker’s side come from two goals down in the first half to win 3-2 at Selhurst Park.
On a night that should have been much different for Oliver Glasner’s side, Jorgen Strand Larsen made a dream start on his home debut, scoring twice early on.
It was one-way traffic for the first 40 minutes against a Burnley side who arrived late due to traffic, which delayed kick-off.
Hannibal Mazbree pulled one back for Burnley.
However, after a frosty start, Hannibal Mazbree pulled one back for Burnley before Jadon Anthony cleverly slotted past Dean Henderson to bring the Clarets level.
Burnley weren’t done there, though, as half-time loomed; Bashir Humphreys’ header created chaos which resulted in a Jefferson Lemar own goal.
With 45 minutes to go in their first-half redress for Heddles, Palace halved and swelled but couldn’t break down a rarely resolute Burnley defence.
Palace’s only shot on target in the second half came in stoppage time, when Martin Dubravka pulled off a superb stop to equalise Ismaila Sarr.
Defeat for Palace saw them extend their Selhurst rot, with the Eagles now eight games without a home win to drop to 14th.
After falling behind in the race for Premier League survival, Burnley’s comeback helped them close the gap on 18th-placed West Ham to six points.
Glasner criticizes sloppy defending
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner said his team didn’t deserve to win.
“When you defend as sloppily as we did in those eight or nine minutes, you deserve to lose,” Glassner said.
“We controlled the game, scored excellent goals, but then the players forgot the basics.” Forgot the basics:
the duel, the second ball, the defence, complaining about the referee’s decision, their handball, stopping the game.
“We still complain when we concede a goal. Maybe it felt too easy to control the game.
“Then in the second half we got punished; we tried everything. But if you lose the game like we did in those eight or nine minutes,
You don’t deserve to win, so we have to accept it. But to be honest, today was very difficult.”
Parker: Not many teams can do what we did tonight
Burnley boss Scott Parker was full of praise for his side after their victory.
“I can’t describe to you, last weekend, we were at home, and the adversity, the pressure, and the obvious frustration were on everyone.
That performance tonight was exceptional – I apologise, but there aren’t many teams capable of achieving that.
We shouldn’t be in this position, especially after a home fixture against West Ham,
where our fans are practically walking off the pitch. I understand that situation; I’m not criticising it. I’ve got my opinion on it, but to come here, 2-0 down, it just speaks volumes. [volumes] absolutely
“I have four boys and that’s exactly what I tell them. If there’s ever a lesson for them, my young guys, it’s tonight.
Because in those moments, in those moments when people can fold, that team – what you saw tonight, yeah, it was incredible.”
