Fulham relegated after Burnley defeat

Published on: 10 May 2021

Ashley Westwood scored his seventh Premier League goal since joining Burnley in 2017

Fulham were relegated from the Premier League after a defeat by Burnley that saw the Clarets secure their top-flight status for another season.

All the relegation spots have now been confirmed, with the Cottagers joining Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion as the three clubs to drop into the Championship.

The damage was done before the break as Burnley struck twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half at Craven Cottage.

First the Clarets hit their hosts on the counter-attack as Matej Vydra showed neat footwork before picking out Ashley Westwood to roll the ball into an empty net.

Chris Wood then lashed in a second from the edge of the area to score his 50th goal for Burnley and consign Fulham to the drop.

It leaves Scott Parker's side 10 points from safety with three games remaining and heading back to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Burnley, who will play Premier League football for the sixth successive season, climb to 14th in the table.

    Reaction as Fulham are relegated in Burnley loss

Cottagers head straight back down

Fulham still have three games to play as a Premier League team but the Cottagers will already have to start thinking about how they plot a return to the top flight of English football.

In Parker they have a manager who has already achieved the feat, guiding his side to promotion via the play-offs last season after they were relegated the previous year.

The problem for Parker and Fulham is that some of his top performers this season, those that would certainly stand out in the Championship, are only at the club on loan.

In fact, four loan players started against Burnley, with another two coming off the bench.

Ademola Lookman was one and the former Everton winger looked the most likely to make something happen for the hosts while another, goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, made several fine saves before Burnley's opener.

Parker has been praised for his side's style of play and, of the three sides to go down, the Cottagers may feel the most unfortunate after a number of narrow defeats and impressive victories away at Liverpool, Everton and Leicester City.

But they have lacked both consistency and especially a serious goal threat, scoring just 25 times in 35 games - with only Sheffield United hitting the target fewer times this season.

Parker sought to fix that on Monday by turning to Aleksandar Mitrovic - who scored 26 goals in Fulham's promotion campaign - but the forward was unable to add to his three goals this season in what was only his fifth league start since the turn of the year.

The hosts did show fight in the second half and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa was unfortunate to see his effort bounce on the goalline and away after rattling the crossbar.

But Parker's side were unable to break down Burnley as they drew another blank, having scored just nine times at home in the league this season.

Having clawed their way back to a position where they were level with 17th-placed Brighton after that win at Anfield, Fulham's relegation comes after taking just one point in the seven games since then.

Clarets secure top-flight status Chris Wood has scored 18 more goals for Burnley than any other player since his debut in August 2017

Every season spent in the top flight is an achievement for Burnley given they always have one of the league's lowest budgets and the club can now look forward to their sixth successive campaign among the biggest names in English football.

This was Dyche's 350th league game in charge of the Clarets and the fact he has spent the majority of those in the highest division is testament to his ability to extract the best from his players despite operating on a lower budget than clubs his side finishes above.

But, after a 10th-placed finish last term, the 49-year-old will be relieved his side are no longer in the relegation conversation this campaign.

The visitors did well to fend off a lively Fulham start, with James Tarkowski making a goal-saving tackle on Lookman, before imposing themselves on the game.

Burnley's goal had been coming and Wood was denied twice in quick succession. First, his header was deflected agonisingly wide by Tosin Adarabioyo before Areola made an excellent save from the New Zealand forward at the subsequent corner.

Moments later, a direct ball behind the Fulham defence found Vydra and he skipped beyond Joachim Andersen before picking out Westwood for a simple finish with Areola stranded, before Wood fired a second beyond the on-loan Paris St-Germain goalkeeper.

With Ben Mee, who was making his 350th appearance for the club, alongside Tarkowski in central defence the Clarets then stood firm as Fulham applied some pressure in the second half looking to keep their survival hopes alive.

More to follow.

Player of the match

WoodChris Wood

with an average of 7.99

    FulhamFulhamFulham BurnleyBurnleyBurnley

Fulham

Avg

Squad number1Player nameAreola

Average rating

5.18

Squad number5Player nameAndersen

Average rating

5.08

Squad number19Player nameLookman

Average rating

5.05

Squad number2Player nameTete

Average rating

4.95

Squad number16Player nameTosin

Average rating

4.91

Squad number29Player nameZambo Anguissa

Average rating

4.85

Squad number33Player nameRobinson

Average rating

4.82

Squad number18Player nameLemina

Average rating

4.80

Squad number9Player nameMitrovic

Average rating

4.72

Squad number27Player nameMaja

Average rating

4.62

Squad number17Player nameCavaleiro

Average rating

4.57

Squad number25Player nameOnomah

Average rating

4.39

Squad number15Player nameLoftus-Cheek

Average rating

4.35

Squad number14Player nameDe Cordova-Reid

Average rating

4.32

Burnley

Avg

Squad number9Player nameWood

Average rating

7.99

Squad number5Player nameTarkowski

Average rating

7.69

Squad number1Player namePope

Average rating

7.55

Squad number27Player nameVydra

Average rating

7.54

Squad number18Player nameWestwood

Average rating

7.49

Squad number6Player nameMee

Average rating

7.45

Squad number3Player nameTaylor

Average rating

7.25

Squad number2Player nameLowton

Average rating

7.17

Squad number8Player nameBrownhill

Average rating

7.15

Squad number4Player nameCork

Average rating

6.92

Squad number19Player nameRodriguez

Average rating

6.84

Squad number10Player nameBarnes

Average rating

6.80

Squad number11Player nameMcNeil

Average rating

6.76

    Line-ups Match Stats Live Text

Line-ups

Fulham

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Areola

2Tete5Andersen16Tosin33Robinson

29Zambo Anguissa18Lemina

17Cavaleiro14De Cordova-Reid19Lookman

9Mitrovic

    1Areola

    2TeteSubstituted forMajaat 54'minutes

    5Andersen

    16TosinSubstituted forLoftus-Cheekat 74'minutes

    33Robinson

    29Zambo AnguissaBooked at 40mins

    18LeminaBooked at 83mins

    17Cavaleiro

    14De Cordova-ReidSubstituted forOnomahat 66'minutes

    19Lookman

    9Mitrovic

Substitutes

    3Hector

    12Rodák

    13Ream

    15Loftus-Cheek

    23Bryan

    25Onomah

    27Maja

    34Aina

    48Carvalho

Burnley

Formation 4-4-2

1Pope

2Lowton5Tarkowski6Mee3Taylor

8Brownhill18Westwood4Cork11McNeil

27Vydra9Wood

    1Pope

    2Lowton

    5Tarkowski

    6Mee

    3Taylor

    8Brownhill

    18Westwood

    4Cork

    11McNeil

    27VydraSubstituted forRodriguezat 67'minutes

    9WoodSubstituted forBarnesat 86'minutes

Substitutes

    7Gudmundsson

    10Barnes

    15Peacock-Farrell

    16Stephens

    19Rodriguez

    23Pieters

    25Norris

    26Bardsley

    34Dunne

Referee: David Coote

Match Stats

Home TeamFulhamAway TeamBurnley

Possession

Home68%

Away32%

Shots

Home21

Away14

Shots on Target

Home3

Away5

Corners

Home8

Away4

Fouls

Home11

Away10

Live Text

Post update

Match ends, Fulham 0, Burnley 2.

90'+4'

Full Time

Second Half ends, Fulham 0, Burnley 2.

90'+4'

Post update

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by James Tarkowski.

90'+4'

Post update

Attempt blocked. Josh Maja (Fulham) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aleksandar Mitrovic.

90'+3'

Post update

Attempt missed. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right.

90'+3'

Post update

Attempt blocked. Ashley Barnes (Burnley) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.

90'

Post update

André-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Fulham) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

90'

Post update

Foul by Jay Rodriguez (Burnley).

89'

Post update

Attempt missed. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ivan Cavaleiro with a cross.

88'

Post update

Foul by Ademola Lookman (Fulham).

88'

Post update

James Tarkowski (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

87'

Post update

Hand ball by Ashley Barnes (Burnley).

86'

Substitution

Substitution, Burnley. Ashley Barnes replaces Chris Wood.

85'

Post update

Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

85'

Post update

Foul by Josh Brownhill (Burnley).

84'

Post update

Offside, Fulham. Joachim Andersen tries a through ball, but Ademola Lookman is caught offside.

83'

Booking

Mario Lemina (Fulham) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

83'

Post update

Offside, Burnley. Jack Cork tries a through ball, but Jay Rodriguez is caught offside.

82'

Post update

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Ben Mee.

82'

Post update

Attempt blocked. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ivan Cavaleiro with a cross.

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Source: bbc.com

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