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Stoke vs Burnley match report: Two-minute double from Danny Ings lifts Clarets off the bottom to continue resurgence

Stoke 1 Burnley 2: Striker finds the net twice in two minutes to ensure Stoke fightback comes o nothing

Jon Culley
Saturday 22 November 2014 18:20 GMT
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Danny Ings opens the scoring for Burnley
Danny Ings opens the scoring for Burnley (Getty Images)

Having waited until their 11th match for a Premier League win, Burnley climbed off the bottom of the table with another as Stoke failed to undo the damage left by the nightmarish defending that handed Danny Ings two gifts.

Ings, whose international break featured two goals for England Under-21s against Portugal on his home patch at Turf Moor, took two tap-ins 105 seconds apart as Burnley led 2-0 within the opening 13 minutes.

Thereafter, with the former Barcelona prodigy Bojan Krkic pulling the strings, Stoke dominated to the extent that goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who headed the ball wide from a stoppage time corner as he joined the assault on Burnley’s goal, had as many touches in the opposition penalty area as his own.

Yet although Jonathan Walters pulled a goal back before half-time with a diving header from a Krkic cross, and Burnley keeper Tom Heaton pulled off a stunning save from Victor Moses, Stoke were not able to find another way through as Sean Dyche’s side held on despite losing centre back Michael Duff to injury.

“It was a different way of winning,” Dyche said. “We started on the front foot and scored two high quality counter-attacking goals and then Stoke came at us with wave after wave of attacks.

Danny Ings scores for Burnley (Getty Images)

“But we had the will, the desire, the effort and the honesty to get the result. All the qualities you want from a good side were there on show. Everyone deems it an impossible challenge for us to stay in the Premier League but it is our job to make it possible.”

Stoke’s defensive horrors began in the 12th minute, when left-back Marc Muniesa lost possession to George Boyd in his own half, allowing the winger to feed Dean Marney, who found Ashley Barnes wide on the left. From his low cross, Begovic and stand-in centre-back Geoff Cameron lunged for the ball with Michael Kightly looking to get a touch and it spun off the keeper’s gloves for Ings to score.

Barely had the 2,500 Burnley fans drawn breath than they had more to cheer as a Barnes flick took out Ryan Shawcross on the half-way line, Kightly galloped into space on the left, skipped over Phil Bardsley and when he delivered his cross there was no one to deny Ings an easy second.

Jon Walters celebrates getting Stoke back into the game (Getty Images)

“Credit to Burnley – they defended for their lives in the second half,” Stoke manager Mark Hughes said. “But we gave them two gift opportunities through individual errors and any side is going to take them and while I was delighted with Bojan, it doesn’t alter the result.”

Stoke City: (4-2-3-1) Begovic; Bardsley, Shawcross, Cameron, Muniesa; Sidwell (Adam, 78), Nzonzi; Walters, Krkic, Moses (Arnautovic, 56); Diouf (Crouch, 60).

Burnley: (4-4-2) Heaton; Trippier, Duff (Keane, 76), Shackell, Ward; Boyd, Marney, Jones, Kightly (Jutkiewicz, 60); Ings (Reid, 85), Barnes.

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Man of the match: Barnes (Burnley)

Match rating: 8/10

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