Zian Flemming scored an injury-time equaliser for Burnley against Chelsea on Saturday
Zian Flemming scored an injury-time equaliser for Burnley against Chelsea on Saturday
Zian Flemming insists it is ‘not over until it’s over’ and says Burnley will do all they can do to make sure their Premier League story has a happy ending.
The Dutch midfielder scored a dramatic 93rd-minute equaliser against Chelsea on Saturday as the Clarets came away from Stamford Bridge with a 1-1 draw.
That made it four points out of a possible six in their last two Premier League outings and follows the 3-2 win at Crystal Palace which ended a record-breaking 16 games without a win in the top flight.
While Flemming admits the league table does not lie - Burnley are 19th, eight points from safety - he and his teammates are determined to try and change the narrative.
“The situation is what it is,” Flemming told the club website. “We have 11 games left and I think when you are 20-something games into the season you probably are in the table where you deserve to be, even though we feel like we have been close to better results than we have.
“But in the end in professional sport, it’s about the fine margins.
“Up until now it’s easy for me to say we fell short but it’s not over and it’s not over until it’s over.
“Even though the gap is big, as long as it’s possible, we go for this hopefully, beautiful football story that everybody, especially in Burnley. is going to remember.”
Flemming was pleased with the way Burnley stuck together after Joao Pedro bundled in Pedro Neto’s cross from close range to give Chelsea the lead in the fourth minute.
“We know at this level, especially against teams like this, games are going to be really hard and obviously you’re not going to just go one or two nil up and just win,” he said.
“They go one nil up in what felt like a matter of seconds and as a group we managed to stick together and stay in the game which is very important.
“We’ve done that quite well over the course of the season, but it’s not always paid off at the end.
“Now it’s finally paid off because when there is only one goal in it, all it takes sometimes is a red card and a corner kick like today to get you a result.”
Burnley could have easily folded after conceding such an early goal but Scott Parker's side stuck in the game with Flemming admitting Wesley Fofana’s dismissal for the hosts was a key turning point.
He said: “The longer you stay in the game, the more the confidence in our team grew. Maybe on the flip side Chelsea’s mentality changed a little to keep it at one nil rather than make it two nil when we go into the final 20 minutes.
“The red card though is a significant moment in the game because we could really take the game in our hands, go and attack, put them under pressure and I think we did that really well.”
The goal was Flemming’s sixth in the league and his first since scoring against Newcastle back in December.
And he was delighted to get on the end of a corner from James Ward-Prowse.
“I can’t remember it that well to be honest,” he said. “He (James Ward-Prowse) hasn’t been here for that long, but everyone knows the quality that he has.
“From the training sessions and games we’ve had, we know he can put the ball exactly where we want it.
“He put it right on my head. I had some work to do afterwards, I just focused on that. Got good contact and I saw the ball going in the far corner.”