Burnley 1-2 West Ham United. Burnley suffered a shattering home defeat by West Ham as Vincent Kompany’s side conceded two late goals to remain bottom of the Premier League.
The home side looked to be on course for a crucial victory thanks to Jay Rodriguez’s penalty at the start of the second half.
But they were unable to double their advantage and West Ham made them pay in the closing stages.
Teenage substitute Divin Mubama pressurised Dara O’Shea into turning the ball into his own net in the 86th minute, before Tomas Soucek scored from Mohammed Kudus’ deep cross in stoppage time to complete the turnaround.
It was a devastating result for Burnley and their watching chairman Alan Pace. They have now lost seven straight home games – failing to pick up a single point despite scoring first in three of those matches.
This particular loss will hurt badly.
Kompany’s side edged a drab first half as West Ham lacked a cutting edge without injured attacking duo Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio. And the Clarets deservedly took the lead four minutes after the break.
Kudus clipped dangerman Luca Koleosho as he surged into the box and Rodriguez kept his nerve from the spot to drive home his first top-flight goal since April 2022.
But with Alphonse Areola repelling Zeki Amdouni’s powerful drive and O’Shea heading over from the ensuing corner, the hosts left the door open for West Ham – and David Moyes’ side took full advantage.
In his programme notes, Kompany said there was still belief at the club that results would turn. Games like this will test that theory in every sense, with the cameras panning to Pace long after the final whistle.
The difficulty of dealing with this latest loss is that Burnley got themselves into a position from which they should have won, even though their early efforts suggested they did not truly believe they could.
When Koleosho was set up by Amdouni, the teenager had enough space to aim for the corner. Instead, he fired straight at Areola and the West Ham keeper made a comfortable save.
It was the highlight of a poor first half, underlined by the repeated in-stadium video replays at half-time of a Burnley penalty claim as Koleosho went down after running into Vladimir Coufal.
Rookie top-flight referee Sam Barrott did not give the decision in real time and video assistant referee Craig Pawson decided the minimal movement Coufal made towards Koleosho should not have triggered the youngster to fall in the way he did.
Thankfully for Burnley, Barrott reached a different conclusion when Kudus nipped at Koleosho’s heels at the start of the second half, and Rodriguez made no mistake with his spot-kick.
With Lyle Foster missing as he deals with personal issues, so much depends on Rodriguez, who is very much Burnley’s hometown hero.
When he thundered into Kudus late in the game, with Burnley still ahead, the home fans responded with a rendition of “he’s one of our own”.
Rodriguez will feel the hurt of this defeat just as acutely as the Clarets fans, who could scarcely believe what had happened in the closing stages.
West Ham’s fans have been calling for Mubama to be afforded more first-team opportunities for some time.
One of the heroes of last season’s FA Youth Cup triumph, the attacker is out of contract at the end of the season and has so far resisted the Hammers’ efforts to persuade him to sign an extension.
Moyes, ever the realist, opted to start Danny Ings up front at Turf Moor with Bowen and Antonio both absent through injury.
Former Burnley striker Ings has not scored in the top flight since a double against Nottingham Forest in February and, like most of his team-mates, the frontman made minimal impact.
Moyes responded by offering Mubama almost 30 minutes to make an impression – the third-longest spell the teenager has had on the field since his first-team debut last season.
The 19-year-old made his mark when it really mattered – attacking Kudus’ near-post cross and celebrating as if he had got the vital touch to turn the ball in for an equaliser.
It was actually ruled an O’Shea own goal to deny Mubama a first league strike, but the setback unsettled Burnley and Soucek dealt the final shattering blow five minutes later.
source – BBC
