Marcus Edwards marked his first Burnley start with the opening goal as the Clarets kept up the pressure on the sides above them with a 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday. With the Championship’s top two, Leeds and Sheffield United, playing each other on Monday, third-placed Burnley took their chance to narrow the gap with second-half goals from Josh Brownhill, Connor Roberts and Manuel Benson.
Edwards, signed on loan from Sporting last month, opened the scoring after 43 minutes. Having played a short pass to Josh Cullen, Edwards received the return, benefited from a ricochet off Shea Charles and showed neat footwork before producing a close-range finish.
It was a cruel way for Danny Röhl’s team to fall behind after they had made light of Burnley’s incredible defensive record this season. The opening 34 league games have seen the Clarets concede just nine goals. Wednesday missed three great chances to end Burnley’s run of 11 games and 1,000 minutes without conceding in the first 19 minutes alone.
Michael Ihiekwe produced a shot which clipped the outside of a post, the winger Djeidi Gassama crossed for Stuart Armstrong, who put a six-yard shot wide, before Gassama was again the architect, this time setting up Josh Windass, whose effort flew wide via the defender Maxime Esteve.
Wednesday started the second half as they had the first, with Windass and Armstrong both having glorious chances blocked by defenders. As had been the case earlier, Wednesday paid for those misses with Brownhill scoring with his first touch after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute. Burnley maintained the pressure from a half-cleared corner, with Josh Laurent sending Jaidon Anthony away down the right and his cross being met by Brownhill, who scored from close range.
Roberts was somehow unmarked to add a third after 70 minutes, side-footing in from another Anthony cross. Benson marked his first appearance since injury in September when he was allowed space on the edge of the area to curl in a fantastic finish.
Meanwhile, the substitute George Earthy netted a 10-minute second-half double as Bristol City came from behind to leap into the Championship playoff spots with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough at Ashton Gate. The West Ham loanee, a 63rd-minute replacement for Anis Mehmeti, fired in from Cam Pring’s cross nine minutes later and then tapped home the rebound when Scott Twine’s 82nd-minute free-kick came back off the bar.
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Boro had looked set to end their losing streak when Tommy Conway scored against his old club after 37 minutes, heading into an unguarded net after the goalkeeper Max O’Leary had parried Kelechi Iheanacho’s shot into his path. But the visitors came under the cosh in the second half and there was no doubting City’s right to the points.
Article by:Source: PA Media
