West Brom 4 Burnley 0
It was one of those nights when everything went right for West Bromwich Albion, so much so that the home supporters were singing Tony Pulis’s name as the Midlands club recorded an emphatic victory that merely reinforced the idea that Burnley do not take too kindly to being on the road.
On the evidence of what we have seen so far this season, Burnley will be relying on their form at Turf Moor to extend their stay in the Premier League. This was a fourth defeat in five away games for Sean Dyche’s team, leaving them with a solitary point and a single goal from their travels, and it was alarming to see the way in which they imploded defensively.
Albion, in fairness, were excellent and are now up to ninth in the table. Inspired by the outstanding James Morrison, they were 3-0 up by half-time after ruthlessly exposing Burnley’s weaknesses at the back. Matt Phillips got the first, Morrison added the second and Darren Fletcher made it a trio of Scottish goalscorers when he turned in the third. Maybe football north of the border is not in such a bad place after all.
Salomón Rondón, who had caused Burnley problems all evening, grabbed the fourth in the 64th minute and that was the cue for some of the travelling fans to head for the exits. It was hard not to feel sympathy for them on a miserable evening when Burnley never looked like ending a winless run at the Hawthorns that stretches back to 1969.
Any hopes Burnley had of improving their woeful away record disappeared inside 37 minutes. Albion were already three goals to the good by that stage and it was impossible to see a way back for a team that defended so dismally. Burnley, in short, were an accident waiting to happen at the back every time Albion attacked and the damage could easily have been greater by half-time.
There were less than four minutes on the clock when Albion took the lead in a sign of things to come. Morrison burst down the right, running on to Chris Brunt’s pass, and slid a low centre into the area that Dean Marney, trying to intercept, succeeded only in diverting towards his own goal and into the feet of Phillips. The winger had his back to goal but turned Ben Mee and lifted the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
As poor as Burnley were in the first half, the visitors should have equalised in the 14th minute. Mee helped on an inswinging free-kick and when Sam Vokes nodded the ball down and in the direction of Jeff Hendrick, who was only six yards out and totally unmarked, a goal seemed certain. Hendrick, however, lifted the ball wide of Ben Foster’s far post and Albion made the most of that reprieve when they extended their lead moments later.
Dyche’s furious reaction to Morrison’s goal told its own story. Picking up possession deep inside his own half, Brunt picked out Rondón, who was on the halfway line with his back to goal. Michael Keane was tight to the Albion striker but Rondón, using his powerful frame, was too strong for the Burnley defender and rolled away from him before releasing Morrison. With no Burnley player tracking him and Mee backing off rather than closing him down, the Scotland international accepted the invitation to stride forward before steering a low, precise shot inside Tom Heaton’s near post.
Burnley looked shell-shocked and Albion were so dominant that it seemed a matter of time before the third goal arrived. Heaton, with a wayward pass, carelessly gifted the ball to Morrison, who curled wide. Rondón lashed over with the angle against him and saw another effort brilliantly turned over the angle of crossbar and post by Heaton.
Then came the inevitable third. From Albion’s point of view it was a well-worked goal, although Dyche will no doubt curse the awful defending that Fletcher exploited. Brunt and Morrison combined to release Phillips, who skipped past Matthew Lowton, the Burnley right-back, before standing up a perfectly-weighted cross that implored the unmarked Fletcher to turn home at the far post. He made no mistake and Albion were coasting.
Dyche, it is fair to assume, had some choice words for his players at half-time. Steven Defour made way for Ashley Barnes but the complexion of the game never looked like changing and Albion added a fourth midway through the second half.
Allan Nyom, set free by Morrison, got to the byline and cut the ball back for Rondón, who turned sharply before drilling a low shot that beat Heaton via a deflection off Stephen Ward. Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s dipping free-kick was tipped over later in the second half but by that point Albion were going through the motions and the game was up for Burnley.
(Guardian service)
