Burnley 5-0 Sheffield United: Delight as Clarets thrash relegation rivals to finally record first home win

Burnley ended their long wait for their first home win of the season in style with an emphatic thrashing against relegation rivals Sheffield United.

Goals from Jay Rodriguez, Jacob Bruun Larsen, Zeki Amdouni, Luca Koleosho and Josh Brownhill handed the Clarets their biggest ever Premier League win.

Not only that, it brought an abrupt end to their seven-game losing streak at Turf Moor and also lifted them off the foot of the table in the process.

They got off to a perfect start when Rodriguez headed home after an incredible 15 seconds and their life was made a great deal easier when the ill-disciplined Oli McBurnie was sent off in first-half stoppage-time.

But Vincent Kompany’s men put the hapless visitors to the sword in the second period to record a stunning victory in what had been billed as a must-win encounter down at the wrong end of the table.

After naming an unchanged side for three games on the spin, Kompany finally made a tweak to his starting line-up - with Jacob Bruun Larsen coming in for Johann Gudmundsson.

The winger, starting a league game for the first time this season, has been a regular performer so far this term, but all 11 of his previous Premier League appearances had come off the bench.

Arijanet Muric missed out once again with an infection, while Jack Cork remains sidelined with a knock he picked up in training.

Lyle Foster, meanwhile, continues to take a break from football to receive specialist treatment for his mental health.

The likes of Ameen Al-Dakhil, Connor Roberts, Hannes Delcroix, Josh Cullen, Manuel Benson, Darko Churlinov and Anass Zaroury are not involved.

As for Sheffield United, they made three changes to the side that were comfortably beaten at home by Bournemouth last week.

The conditions were freezing, but it didn’t take long for things to heat up with Burnley taking just 15 seconds to open the scoring.

Turf Moor came alive as Jay Rodriguez got across his marker to glance home a wonderful flying header from Charlie Taylor’s pinpoint left-wing cross.

Despite the rapid nature of Rodriguez’s goal, it doesn’t even make the top 10 fastest goals in Premier League history - a list topped by Shane Long’s effort after 7.69 seconds.

The experienced striker did, however, become the first player in Premier League history to score in the opening 15 seconds of two separate top flight fixtures, with his other coming 10 years ago for Southampton against Chelsea.

Rodriguez could have been at the double when he was teed up by Zeki Amdouni on the 10-minute mark, but on this occasion he failed to hit the target with his driven effort from the edge of the box.

Sheffield United’s first effort in anger came from Gustavo Hamer, who blazed comfortably wide with an ambitious shot from range.

The visitors were struggling to keep tabs on Rodriguez, who came close again with a near-post flick from Vitinho’s cross, but on this occasion he was unable to make sufficient contact.

The first real danger for Burnley came 20 minutes in when Oliver Norwood unleashed a powerful volley from long-range, but James Trafford did well to fly across goal and push it wide of danger.

Burnley continued to control the game though and were having plenty of joy building out from the back courtesy of Trafford’s passes through the lines.

The hosts went on to add the second goal their play deserved - this time it was Bruun Larsen to get on the scoresheet to cap off his first league start.

It was coolly taken by the winger, who took down Dara O’Shea’s long ball with a lovely first touch before calmly slotting past Wes Foderingham in the Blades goal.

Burnley were, however, fortunate not to have their lead halved soon after their second goal when Cameron Archer blazed wastefully over from just 10 yards out.

As the half drew to a close, Kompany was left incandescent with rage after Dara O’Shea had been floored by a clear elbow from Oli McBurnie on Dara O’Shea.

Kompany was also booked for his demonstrations in the dugout, while O’Shea also saw yellow after taking some retribution on McBurnie.

The Blades man completely lost his head in first-half stoppage time, throwing another stray arm in O’Shea’s direction and giving the referee no option but to brandish a second yellow card in his direction.

Burnley were in control of the game anyway when it was 11 v 11, but with a man advantage they enjoyed total domination of the ball.

Koleosho looked to get in on the act at the start of the second half when he drilled a low effort just past the post after showing some neat footwork on the edge of the box.

The visitors showed little interest in reducing the deficit, instead opting not to concede any further goals.

As such, it made for a largely dull half, with Burnley happy to keep control of the ball and minimise any risk.

A third almost arrived just after the hour mark following another patient Burnley attack, but Vitinho saw his shot well blocked after being played in by Bruun Larsen.

It proved to be Bruun Larsen’s final action of the game as he was swiftly replaced by Gudmundsson in the home side’s first change of the afternoon.

Prior to that sub, Sheffield United were fortunate not to be reduced to nine men when William Osula floored Josh Brownhill with yet another swipe of the arm - seemingly taking inspiration from his teammate McBurnie.

A couple of minutes later, Osula was sent through by Gustavo Hamer following a rare but swift Sheffield United counter attack, but Trafford was alert and came rushing off his line to thwart him.

The Clarets soon put the game to bed - and in some style too - with a quickfire double.

The first came via Amdouni, who capped off an impressive display with a clinical finish across the goalkeeper and into the far corner after the ball had been worked back into the Sheffield United box.

Two minutes later, Koleosho beat Foderingham at his near post to make it four, seconds after the winger had been denied by the post.

A fifth duly arrived with 10 minutes still to go, skipper Brownhill smashing one home from the edge of the box after the hapless visitors had failed to clear their lines.

Vitinho could have made life even worse for the Blades when he curled a teasing effort just wide, but instead the hosts were forced to settle for just the five.

The result sees Burnley move off the foot of the table and up to 18th, now only two points adrift of safety.

TEAMS

Burnley: Trafford, Vitinho, O’Shea (Ekdal), Beyer, Taylor, Brownhill, Berge, Bruun Larsen (Gudmundsson), Koleosho (Tresor), Amdouni (Redmond), Rodriguez (Obafemi)

Subs not used: Vigouroux, Massengo, Ramsey, Odobert

Sheff Utd: Foderingham, Robinson, Baldock (Bogle), Ahmedhodzic, Trusty, Norwood, Hamer, Thomas (McAtee) Fleck (Osula), McBurnie, Archer (Traore)

Subs not used: Davies, Lowe, Souza, Slimane, Larouci

Referee: Chris Kavanagh