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| Jay Rodriguez - four goals |
They fought back well to take the game to extra time but quality and fitness shone through as the clarets sailed through to the second round of the Carling Cup in a nine goal thriller.
Charlie Austin was in for the injured Martin Paterson and was the only change to the team that drew 2-2 with Watford in the opening game. It would have also been a decent game for new arrival Keith Treacy to play but he was away on international duty with Republic of Ireland and left space on the bench for youngsters Wes Fletcher and Joe McKee to possibly gain first team experience.
It didn’t take long for the clarets to signal their intentions as the first good chance came in the first minute. It was good work from Austin down the right hand side as he managed to squirm in a cross and find Rodriguez who stretched in front of his marker and shot narrowly wide. Then just over 5 minutes later Trippier tried an effort from a cleared Elliott cross when his well struck effort was deflected over the crossbar. Burnley were playing some decent football and again aimed to exploit the right wing as Amougou picked out a superb long ball to Austin who laid it into the path of an onrushing Trippier who then whipped in a devilish ball that Rodriguez was inches away from converting.
The game seemed to die out a bit after the opening 10 minutes and Burton were seeing a lot more of the ball. However, they were lacking in quality in the final third and shots from long range by Richards and Palmer caused no danger to Grant or the score line.
Half time was approaching and the clarets seemed to take their foot off the gas and Burton almost exploited it. Maghoma found space for a shot 25 yards from goal and his left footed drive flashed just wide of the scrambling Grant’s goal.
It was 0-0 at half time and nobody could have predicted the final outcome of this match. Marney was replaced by Bartley to add a bit more pace and energy to the midfield and it didn’t take long for Burnley to create another chance. Burnley were driving forward and the ball fell to McCann whose rifle of a half volley ended up straight at the goalkeeper. Soon after the ball landed at Austin’s feet however, he snatched at his volley chance and produced a shot that Jonny Wilkinson would have been proud of.
Burnley were beginning to step up a gear and Wallace produced and neat Cruyff turn in the box to make space for a shot that the keeper pushed past the post. Wallace whipped in the resulting corner and after some pinball the ball found Austin who snatched again and fired over from 6 yards. Then the game came to life as Burnley was awarded a dubious penalty. Austin managed to create some neat footwork and was fouled clearly just outside the area. The referee showed no hesitation to point to the spot and up stepped Jay Rod to smash Burnley into the lead with a well taken penalty.
Burnley then looked to make it 2-0 as Elliott made room for a cross on the left hand side and picked out Rodriguez whose flick on nearly found Austin at the back post who somehow managed to produce an air shot when it look harder to miss. On 65 minutes Burnley were awarded another penalty and this time there was no doubt. Rodriguez again managed to muscle his way past several defenders and laid the ball into Wallace’s path where he was clumsily fouled by Bolder who was consequently booked. Up stepped Jay Rod again who this time smashed it into the roof of the net and left the keeper with no chance.
So it was deservedly 2-0 to the clarets and it looked as though we were cruising towards a comfortable win until the 72nd minute when a nice passing move led to Taylor gliding past Amougou with ease and finishing well. Taylor then high in confidence went for goal from fully 30 yards and again it went narrowly wide and he was clearly Burton’s stand out player.
Burton were finding a way back into the game but Austin extended the lead to 3-1 with 10 minutes remaining. Austin easily drifted past 3 or 4 players and unleashed an unstoppable left foot drive from the edge of the area, making up for his earlier misses and showing the fans his potential.
Game over and Burnley were just playing out the final 6 minutes and looking set to accept a 3-1 win but out of nowhere Bartley sold Amougou short with a under hit back pass and the ball was stolen from Amougou which left acres of space for Zola to calmly make the score 3-2. Amougou showed decent by booting the ball away in frustration and ended up with a yellow card, De Ja Vu?
Then unthinkably in the 90th minute a surge forward from Burton was brought to a halt when Elliott gave away a soft free kick well in range. The resulting free kick should have easily been caught or pushed wide but Grant could only parry out to Maghoma who tapped in from close range, possibly could have been awarded as an Edgar own goal but he couldn’t get out of the way.
Extra time was upon us but some fans decided to leave as either they had seen enough or they didn’t realise extra time was played in the Carling Cup. Consequently they missed an emphatic last 30 minutes as Burnley sealed a thrilling 6-3 win.
Wallace ended up with the ball in the middle of the park and after a mazy run thumped a dipping drive into the top corner and left the keeper grasping at air. Then a few minutes after Rodriguez grabbed a hat trick with a low effort from fully 25 yards and again the keeper was left nowhere near the ball. 5-3 in no time and now surely the clarets couldn’t throw away this lead. In the 2nd half of extra time Rodriguez had a good chance of grabbing his 4th and Burnley’s 6th, however he shot wide. He didn’t have to wait long as seconds later a slick passing move with Elliott left him through on goal and he converted convincingly.
The game finished 6-3 and was relatively comfortable apart from dodgy defending and momentary lapses in concentration. Mistakes in the defence need to be sorted because against better teams the result could have been a lot worse, but on the up side there was signs of good football and they looked a lot more clinical in front of goal and left fans feeling optimistic of an improvement.