Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3 – Eagles win with plenty to spare at Turf Moor
A Phil Bardsley own goal and two fine finishes from Michy Batshuayi and Wilfried Zaha helped Crystal Palace to a comfortable victory over Burnley at Turf Moor.
Bardsley turned Jeffrey Schlupp’s cross into his own net after an excellent bursting run from Cheikhou Kouyate found Zaha who beat Charlie Taylor and fired the ball into the box, for it to be cleared as far as Schlupp, and Bardsley was unable to keep the ball out after 15 minutes.
Earlier Dwight McNeil had curled a free-kick over the crossbar, with a physical Burnley side enjoying the majority of possession in the early stages.
They tested Wayne Hennessey from corners and high balls into the box aimed at the two centre forwards, Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, but failed to trouble Palace for the most part.
With 10 minutes to play before half-time, Patrick van Aanholt was forced to head over his own crossbar from Jeff Hendrick’s curling effort.
Zaha was the visitors’ prime threat, linking up well down the right with Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He got away from his man and knocked the ball past Ben Mee, but the defender cynically blocked the Palace man and earned a yellow card in the process.
Early in the second half, it was Zaha who helped double Palace’s lead. He found himself with the ball on the edge of the area, saw Wan-Bissaka in space and the youngster put in a perfect low cross which Batshuayi finished with aplomb.
With an hour on the clock, Schlupp took aim with a fierce strike from distance but a deflection took it just over the bar.
Zaha wrapped up the win with some superb close control and skill at close range before firing past Tom Heaton to make it 3-0.
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