Burnley threw away a rare lead to lose at Fulham to leave their already slim survival hopes hanging by the tightest of threads.
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Premier League explain why Burnley weren't awarded early penalty vs Fulham](https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/football/premier-league-explain-why-burnley-werent-awarded-early-penalty-vs-fulham-6069041 "Premier League explain why Burnley weren't awarded early penalty vs Fulham")
Scott Parker’s side scored first for only the second time in their last 20 league games when Zian Flemming turned home his ninth goal of the season on the hour mark.
But within 13 minutes they were behind, with Josh King and Harry Wilson turning the game on its head for the Cottagers.
The home side completed the scoring in stoppage time with Raul Jimenez penalty after Josh Laurent had been shown a straight red card.
It means the Clarets, who have now won just one league game out of their last 22, remain nine points adrift of safety with only seven games remaining, with all of their relegation rivals still yet to play.
It was a similar story to the Bournemouth game last week in that the Clarets played okay and could easily have come away with a point or perhaps even more. But while they were able to come away with a point against the Cherries, they come away empty-handed once again on this occasion.
Parker named an unchanged side as he kept faith with the XI that produced an improved performance during last week’s goalless draw.
Josh King scores for Fulham after a costly Martin Dubravka mistake (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)placeholder image
Josh King scores for Fulham after a costly Martin Dubravka mistake (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
It meant Lyle Foster retained his place on the right flank, despite a below-par display against the Cherries which saw him ironically jeered when he was subbed off.
Many had expected Marcus Edwards to take his place in the side, but he remained on the bench.
Elsewhere, Jordan Beyer, Axel Tuanzebe, Connor Roberts, Josh Cullen, Mike Tresor and Zeki Amdouni all remain sidelined.
The only change to the squad came on the bench, where Hjalmar Ekdal took the place of Lucas Pires. Jacob Bruun Larsen was also left out of the match day squad for a second game running.
As for Fulham, they made two changes from their 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest last week as Timothy Castagne and Rodrigo Muniz came in for Tete and Raul Jimenez respectively.
Burnley were the first side to threaten, as early as the second minute, when Jaidon Anthony picked out Bashir Humphreys in space at the back post following an early throw deep into Fulham territory - but Humphreys’ ball into the six-yard box was cleared behind for a corner that was comfortably dealt with.
Anthony was again involved five minutes later when Zian Flemming came close to giving the Clarets an early lead, seeing a close-range effort blocked by Bassey after the winger had exchanged a quick one-two with Quilindschy Hartman down the left, before his pullback for the Dutchman.
Flemming immediately appealed for a handball from Bassey and replays showed the ball clearly struck the arm of the Fulham defender as he went to ground to stop the shot. Yet it was checked and cleared by VAR.
It took until the 15th minute for Fulham to threaten, with Burnley otherwise looking pretty comfortable, as Rodrigo Muniz volleyed comfortably over from the bar from edge of the box.
The Clarets were dealt an early blow when Hannibal was forced off through injury after landing awkwardly following a 50/50 challenge with Bassey. The midfielder looked devastated as he limped to the tunnel, while Lesley Ugochukwu was the man to replace him.
As the game resumed, Fulham dangerman Harry Wilson came close with a rasping drive that just missed the top corner from 25 yards out.
At the other end, Flemming squandered another gilt-edged chance when his stooping diving header was saved by Bernd Leno from point-blank range following a teasing ball in from Hartman.
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Wilson looked to be on a one-man mission to open the scoring for the Cottagers, being denied by Dubravka again after the home side found him too easily from a short corner, before his curling effort whistled just over with Dubravka desperately back pedalling.
The half otherwise fizzled out to a close, with Burnley feeling pretty satisfied with how they had managed to frustrate the home side, but perhaps a little frustrated not to have capitalised on two of three good opportunities.
Fulham came out firing at the start of the second period, with Dubravka required to make an important save at full stretch to deny Oscar Bobb, before Muniz fired wide of an empty net just seconds later after Dubravka had again come to Burnley’s aid.
The Clarets were dealt another let off just before the hour mark and again Muniz was the guilty party for Fulham, wastefully heading two or three yards wide after being picked out unmarked by Timothy Castagne.
But lo and behold, the breakthrough was finally broken right on 60 minutes and it was Burnley, not Fulham, who managed to get their noses in front.
Lyle Foster, who had struggled up to that point, was the creator, pulling the ball back for Flemming to nestle a well-taken first-time effort in the back of the net for his ninth goal of the campaign.
The Clarets weren’t ahead for long though, just seven minutes in fact, as Josh King drew Fulham level with a close-range effort.
It followed a rare Dubravka error, as the Slovakian international failed to deal with a deep cross, resulting in the ball squirming through his legs, gifting King a simple tap in.
Another six minutes passed and Fulham completed the turnaround, taking a 2-1 lead just 13 minutes after falling behind.
Once again Burnley were the victims of their own downfall, as Anthony failed to take enough care of the ball in the middle of the park sparking an immediate Fulham counter.
Wilson did the rest, cutting in from the right and producing a low, drilled effort that beat Dubravka at his near post.
To Burnley’s credit, they didn’t crumble, responding well with two quick chances as the game soon opened up into an end-to-end affair.
Josh Laurent produced a perfectly timed run to meet Anthony’s pullback, only for Joachim Andersen to get a toenail to his close-range effort and turn it over. Anthony, meanwhile, nearly crept a low, curling effort into the far corner after Burnley had taken a quick free kick, only for Leno to get down and make the save.
Hartman of all people then nearly brought Burnley level, but his low effort - which took a slight deflection - was superbly tipped around the post by Leno.
Further drama was to ensue, but unfortunately for Burnley it came at the wrong end as Fulham were awarded a penalty and Laurent was shown a straight red card.
The midfielder was penalised for a shove on Fulham sub Raul Jimenez as he went to shoot one on one with Dubravka. The striker dusted himself off to convert the penalty himself to make the scoreline 3-1 - which is how the game ended.
TEAMS
Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson (Sessegnon), Berge, Iwobi, Wilson (Reed), King (Smith Rowe), Bobb (Chukwueze), Muniz (Jimenez)
Subs not used: Lecomte, Diop, Lukic, Cairney
Burnley: Dubravka, Walker (Tchaouna), Humphreys, Esteve, Hartman, Laurent, Ward-Prowse (Edwards), Hannibal (Ugochukwu), Foster (Barnes), Anthony, Flemming
Subs not used: Weiss, Ekdal, Worrall, Florentino, Broja
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
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