Burnley Suffer Blow In Crucial Encounter
Burnley's bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League suffered a blow after the Everton side led by former Sean Dyche secured victory in the battle between the pair at Goodison Park.
The Clarets made the trip to Liverpool on a four-game unbeaten run, breathing new life into their bid to avoid an immediate return to the Championship a season after going up as Champions.
Everton had gone 13 games without a win going into the fixture and there were few chances for either team in a cagey first half where a desire not go behind was evident.
The breakthrough came in bizarre fashion just before the break when the ball was played back to Arijanet Muric in the Burnley goal, who attempted to then clear up field only to see his kick charged down by Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The ball then looped back over the head of the Burnley 'keeper before dropping into the net to give Everton a one goal lead going into half-time.
Any hope of Burnley battling back in the second half took a major hit little over 20 minutes from the end when Dara O'Shea lost the ball near halfway and fouled Dwight McNeill whilst trying to recover.
That earned him a red card and left Burnley down to ten men, although Josh Brownhill did manage to go close to an equaliser late on only for his shot to flash narrowly wide.
The defeat leaves Burnley six points away from safety with six games left to go, including matches with rivals Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest.
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