Photos: Stoke City 1, Burnley 2
Danny Ings followed up his double for the England Under 21s with two goals in as many first first half minutes at the Britannia Stadium.
After his Turf Moor brace, which earned Gareth Southgate’s side a 3-1 win over Portugal, the striker trebled his domestic tally within 13 minutes of the Premier League fixture.
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Hide AdGeorge Boyd applied the pressure to instigate the opener, supplied the pass to Dean Marney after dispossessing Marc Muniesa, the midfielder played the diagonal to Ashley Barnes, and Ings tapped home once Asmir Begovic foiled Michael Kightly from the initial cross.
Sean Dyche’s side doubled the lead just one minute and 45 seconds after the opener. Barnes provided a delicate flick from Stephen Ward’s throw to set Kightly free down the left and the winger provided the perfect centre for Ings to cushion past Begovic after the North West Championship Footballer of the Year ghosted beyond Geoff Cameron.
So far this term, the Clarets have fallen on several occasions to the division’s Barcelona contingency. Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas claimed two assists on the opening day, Samuel Eto’o scored twice for Everton while Alexis Sanchez netted a brace for Arsenal at the Emirates.
Now Bojan can be added to that list. The 24-year-old, signed for £3m by Mark Hughes in the summer, whipped in an exquisite cross from Kightly’s clearance and Jonathan Walters powered a header beyond Tom Heaton after beating Jason Shackell to the ball to halve the deficit.
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Hide AdSteve Sidwell flicked over from a Victor Moses corner as the Potters pressed for an equaliser while Heaton saved Moses’s deflected effort.
And as the half came to a close, Heaton floated to his left to palm away Moses’s curling effort.
The second half was as expected - the hosts applied the pressure in a bid to avoid defeat.
Moses sliced harmlessly wide early on, Diouf flicked just wide of the post after Duff and Heaton failed to deal with Bojan’s centre while Nzonzi blazed over from inside the box after Bojan and Walters combined.
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Hide AdThe pressure was incessant, but the Clarets held on admirably. Substitute Peter Crouch glanced wide from Bojan’s cross, the striker then steered wide of the target when re-directing Phil Bardsley’s shot.
Even Begovic got in on the act in stoppage time. After plunging to his left to deny substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz on the break, the goalkeeper leaped above Shackell from Charlie Adam’s corner but his header looped high and wide.
This was a big statement from the Clarets. Consecutive victories move them to 18th in the table ahead of next weekend’s clash with Aston Villa at Turf Moor.