The long wait is over, 108 days of hurt are finally at an end.
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Why Burnley's trip to Crystal Palace has been delayed by 10 minutes](https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/football/why-burnleys-trip-to-crystal-palace-has-been-delayed-by-10-minutes-5536767 "Why Burnley's trip to Crystal Palace has been delayed by 10 minutes")
It was only four days ago, after that toxic afternoon against West Ham, I wrote how difficult it is to see where Burnley’s next win was going to come from. How silly do I look now?
But I stand by those comments, because in the moment, in the midst of that miserable, unrelenting, seemingly never-ending run, that’s how it felt. That’s what football does to you.
But amid all the pain, sorrow and growing toxicity, Scott Parker has remained adamant the players are still with him. They still believed, they still had the same spirit they did last season when they stormed to automatic promotion with 100 points to their name.
Results may have suggested otherwise, but insiders repeated the same message. They were just as unwavering in their belief that Parker still had the players’ support, even if supporters were, or perhaps still are, rapidly losing patience.
But actions speak louder than words and what we witnessed at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night was all the evidence we needed.
Trailing 2-0 after conceding twice from two shots on target for the second first-half running, Burnley’s players could have been forgiven for allowing their heads to drop. Given the wider context and the cloud of negativity hovering over Burnley over the last few months, it was almost expected.
Jaidon Anthony celebrates his sixth goal of the season (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)placeholder image
Jaidon Anthony celebrates his sixth goal of the season (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
But they didn’t wilt, they didn’t waver. Staring down the barrel of a 17th league game without a win, they stood up, puffed their chests, rolled their sleeves up and got to work. What followed was seven and a half minutes of madness.
Huge
In the grand scheme of things, this result might have no bearing whatsoever on Burnley’s season at large. But in the here and now, it feels hugely significant.
For a few weeks now it’s felt like the current situation was unstainable, something had to change.
Pyrotechnics greet the two sets of players (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)placeholder image
Pyrotechnics greet the two sets of players (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Parker is a good man and someone who puts his players first. If he ever felt the noise around his future was inhabiting his squad, he’d take himself aside and out of the firing line.
My first question to the Clarets boss during his post-match press conference at Selhurst Park was: ‘what does that mean to you?’. In typical Parker fashion, he batted off the personal connotations of the question, instead opting to focus on what it means for his players.
There is no doubt this meant absolutely everything though. You could see that from his guttural reaction at the full-time whistle. It was the sort of roar you could feel through the TV screens, rather than just see or hear. It was months of anguish leaving the body in one fell swoop.
Hannibal delivered arguably his best performance in a Burnley shirt to date (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)placeholder image
Hannibal delivered arguably his best performance in a Burnley shirt to date (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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And yet, such is the fickle nature of this game we know and love, it could have been all so different.
After kick-off was delayed due to Burnley’s team bus being stuck in traffic, the headlines were beginning to write themselves when the Clarets found themselves 2-0 down (were the players still on the bus? Parker parked the bus in the wrong area of Croydon, caught asleep at the wheel and so on and so on).
To sum up the season, Palace were roundly mocked and questioned for splashing £48m on Jorgen Strand Larsen after the striker had, at the time of his move, scored just one Premier League goal all season.
Ironically, that goal in question also came against Burnley in a 3-2 defeat after slotting home a penalty for Wolves in that similarly topsy-turvy game at Molineux back in October – yes, that very game, the Clarets’ last three points before this bonkers night in South London.
The Norwegian now has three for the season, all against Burnley, having bagged a first-half brace. He took the goals well, but the defending left a lot to be desired. Once again the opposition had to do very little to earn their advantage. At times, it feels like all you have to do against Burnley is wait. You don’t even need to force the issue.
This was a massive win for Parker given the uncertainty surrounding his job (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)placeholder image
This was a massive win for Parker given the uncertainty surrounding his job (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It looked for all intents and purposes as if this would be just more of the same. Another game that passed Burnley by – 17 games and 109 days without a win. Onto the next one and all that.
But the visitors had other ideas and, in the blink of an eye, somehow managed to turn the game on its head with three quickfire goals.
The comeback was initiated by Burnley’s best player on the night Hannibal, who curled home a delicious effort via the aid of a slight deflection.
Given the undoubted quality he possesses, it’s hard to believe this was his first club goal of the season. But his next challenge is to start performing like this on a consistent basis, because he was more than a match for the excellent Adam Wharton.
Jaidon Anthony drew Burnley level only three minutes later when he gave Dean Henderson the eyes before placing a well-controlled effort into the near post to net his sixth league goal of the campaign.
But the Clarets weren’t done there. Before the first-half was up, Bashir Humphreys directed a header towards goal. Henderson and Jefferson Lerma both tried desperately to clear, but the ball ended up trickling over the line from the latter, going down as an own goal. It was the slice of luck Burnley have barely enjoyed this season.
Proof is in the pudding
The second-half was a case of sitting in and frustrating Palace. While the home side had plenty of the ball, the Clarets were actually pretty comfortable. They always carried a threat on the break too and perhaps ought to have made life more comfortable for themselves in two or three moments where their final ball let them down.
There was one moment, midway through the second-half, that summed up Burnley’s night. It was Humphreys turning to the away end and roaring his delight after helping win the Clarets a goal kick, rather than conceding a corner right on the byline.
Emotionally speaking, the three points tells us this was a sterling display from Burnley. But their xG was just 0.53, far lower than the 1.34 they produced during their supposedly dreadful performance against West Ham. It’s funny how the end result shapes our thoughts and feelings, but it was always thus.
This wasn’t about the level of display, or even tactics, formations or styles of play though. This was a case of showing those character traits that can’t be measured or neatly summed up in an otherwise meaningless number. This was Burnley’s players proving they’re very much playing for Scott Parker.
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