BURNLEY - Burnley secured their first win of the Premier League season as Chris Wood's eighth minute goal was enough to earn a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Turf Moor on Monday.
The result moves Burnley out of the bottom three up to 17th place, on five points from eight matches, while Palace drop to 10th on 13 after nine games.
Sean Dyche's Burnley, who went into the match without a home goal in this campaign, ended their barren run when Palace defender Cheikhou Kouyate made a mess of a high cross from Johann Berg Gudmundsson, the ball falling to Jay Rodriguez who fed Wood to drive home.
Palace had suffered a blow before the game with the news that their influential winger Wilfried Zaha had been ruled out after testing positive for Covid-19.
Roy Hodgson's visiting side enjoyed plenty of possession though, with Andros Townsend and Jordan Ayew both testing Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope while Michy Batshuayi drilled the ball just wide after a run from deep.
All smiles after the first win! 😁 pic.twitter.com/4qXgrTdrUF
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) November 23, 2020
But Burnley should have added a second goal after the break when Gudmundsson was put in clear on goal but the Iceland international blasted his shot against the bar.
Palace applied late pressure and Burnley had Pope to thank again in the final minute when he came out bravely to foil Christian Benteke from close range.
Reuters