Walking away from Upton Park yesterday Burnley fans will have been filled with mixed emotions. It was a strange cocktail of anger and pride, delighted with the final 30 minutes of the game but still furious at the performance in the opening hour.
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 | Chris Eagles - unplayable in the last 30 minutes |
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You'll have to forgive me but I am an eternal optimist, as those who know me will testify, so if this report is a little upbeat for some of your likings then I apologise.
Unsurprisingly Owen Coyle named an unchanged squad for Burnley's first top-flight trip to Upton Park since 1975, and it looked as though we were picking up where we had left off in Manchester several weeks earlier.
The game's first two chances fell our way, Andre Bikey drove into the box and fired a stinging drive straight at Rob Green before Clarke Carlisle rose highest to meet Robbie Blake's corner only for Scott Parker to clear the ball off the line, the first telling contribution from Parker on a day when he was outstanding.
As the home side found their feet, looking for only their second home win of the season, they served notice of there intent on the quarter hour.
Guille Franco and Jack Collison worked a neat opening down the Burnley left, which allowed Collison to float a cross into the box, and Mexican Franco's header was only denied by the crossbar. If that was a warning for Burnley then sadly they paid it no attention.
Minutes later Parker was clumsily felled just past half-way by Wade Elliott, quick as a flash, Parker found Collison with a delicious through-ball that he controlled and stroked past an exposed Brian Jensen.
Watching the replay, Stephen Jordan inexplicably dropped back several yards as Parker took the free-kick, playing Collison onside and giving the young Welsh international the freedom of East London to score his second goal in as many games.
So, undeservedly we found ourselves 1-0 down, again owing to an individual error. Elliott had a superb chance to level matters soon after but blazed over from the edge of the box after good work by Blake and Fletcher, and before long we were even further behind.
I'm loathed to criticise individuals, as I said earlier I prefer to look on the bright side where possible, but I can't sugar coat this, yesterday was a horror show for Stephen Jordan.
Guille Franco found a yard of space on the edge of the Burnley box and threaded a lovely reverse pass into the path of Junior Stanislas, who sadly was being played onside by Stephen Jordan who wasn't quick enough to push out after defending a throw-in deep into Burnley territory.
Stanislas latched onto Franco's pass but failed to beat Jensen at the first attempt, but the ball fell kindly back to the youngster and he was able to squeeze his second attempt under the big Dane and double his side's lead. Quite why neither Tyrone Mears nor Clarke Carlisle felt it necessary to cover in behind their goalkeeper as he advanced to foil Stanislas is anybody's guess but as it was Burnley yet again had given themselves a mountain to climb away from home.
That mountain grew even larger two minutes before half time. Again the danger came down the Burnley left, Jonathan Spector easily beat Jordan on his way into the penalty area before he fell to the floor after contact from Robbie Blake, it was a soft award but looking at it again you can see why it was given.
Carlton Cole made no mistake from the resulting spot kick and for the sixth time already this season we had conceded three or more away from home.
What most Burnley fans would have wanted as the second half began was a spirited display and to restore some pride to the score line. Well, it got worse before it got better.
Jordan hauled down Zavon Hines wide on the West Ham right and, via both his head and his shoulder, an unmarked Franco scored the goal his performance had merited.
At this point, the nine Spurs had rattled up at home to Wigan last weekend didn't look a millions miles away.
We weren't without our chances though, David Nugent spurned two chances with his first two touches after coming on to replace Blake. The first was a volley from the penalty spot that seemed to roll down his shin before trickling inches wide, and the second was a header that he really should have buried from Elliott's lovely cross.
Four, however, soon became five.
Scott Parker, magnificent on the day, split the Burnley defence with an incisive ball for substitute Luis Jimenez.
What happened next was inevitable I'm afraid. Jensen came charging from his goal and clattered into the Chilean, who had just managed to nick the ball away from him. Penalty. We've seen Jensen do this before and I have no doubt we will see him do it again unfortunately. Jimenez slotted his penalty in almost the exact place Cole had done 20 minutes earlier and the 'Cockney Boys' had five.
The five goals shipped yesterday means we have now conceded 25 in seven away games, far too many, and if it continues at the same alarming rate we will have serious problems come April/May.
5-0 down away from home with 25 minutes to go, what do you settle for in a scenario such as this? Do you plead for sympathy and take the 5-0 loss, do you ask for a consolation goal or do you still want the players to fight for a point?
Whatever individuals would have asked for, they got an outstanding 30 minutes from our team and three deserved goals.
During the period from Jimenez scoring West Ham's fifth and the final whistle Chris Eagles was absolutely unplayable. Burnley's leading light all afternoon, the last quarter of the game belonged to him.
First off he picked the ball up on the left flank and darted into the box, twisting and turning his way past Danny Gabbidon he managed to fire a ball across the Hammers' box that Steven Fletcher was able to poke in at the back post.
We had a league goal in the capital, we had an ounce of pride and we had something to smile about.
Six minutes later we had yet more reason to smile, an absolute carbon copy of our first goal. Tricky wing play down the left from Eagles, low ball across, Fletcher there to notch his eighth goal of the season from close range.
Fletcher's performance is also worthy of a mention. Yet again he put in a performance befitting a Premier League number nine, and what pleases me most about him is the nature of his goals in recent weeks.
His last four Premier League goals have all been a case of 'right place - right time'.
Wigan at home, Manchester City away and the two goals yesterday, they are all predatory strikes, goals you want to see centre forwards scoring. £3million brilliantly spent.
With time ticking away you felt that all the game needed was a goal for Eagles. He came mighty close from a 30-yard free kick that clipped the post but didn't have to wait long for his second Premier League goal for Burnley.
The game's eighth and final goal was the pick of the bunch, a goal that personifies everything good about Owen Coyle's Burnley Football Club.
Andre Bikey picked the ball up in the centre circle before spreading it wide to Tyrone Mears. The full back moved the ball on neatly to Elliott before getting on his bike. Quite where Mears found the energy to overlap with such vigour so late in the game is a mystery, but when Elliott's slide-rule pass found the marauding full-back in the opposition box he pulled the ball back into the danger area beautifully for Eagles to slam home an injury time third.
Captain Steven Caldwell's late dismissal for a tug on Hines was undeserved, granted he made a terrible mess of an attempted back pass, but the contact made with the forward was minimal.
With an appeal unlikely to succeed however, Owen Coyle will be forced to make at least one change to his side for next weekend's trip to Portsmouth, a very, very big game. |
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