Vincent Kompany reveals half-time showdown inspired Burnley's late comeback against Fulham

The Cottagers looked to be heading to their first win at Turf Moor in 73 years thanks to first-half goals from Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Muniz.

Burnley’s display, especially defensively, was bordering on shambolic at times, but they rallied in the second period and salvaged a late point thanks to two goals from sub David Fofana.

Speaking after the game, Kompany praised his players’ character – pinpointing their half-time showdown as a key turning point in the game.

“I guess this is what football is made for,” he said.

“In the first-half, we didn’t start bad at all. But kind of out of nothing we’re 1-0 down and out of even less, 2-0 down.

“After that, there was no real momentum and it didn’t really get going anymore, but I saw a team at half-time that had character, passion and wanted to fight.

“I think the lads had a go at each other, they went out and five minutes later they were in a huddle and they were ready to run their socks off. That’s what they did and they got their rewards for it.”

While the game ended on a high note, Kompany will still be concerned with the defending that led to Fulham’s two goals.

“When you concede goals like this, it’s hard to go on a tactics board and give them a solution straight away,” Kompany added.

“But in general, it looks like we were carrying the City game in our legs, so the biggest message [at half-time] was just to go for it. Really go for it.

“We can’t have any regrets after we play a game, we’ve got to leave everything on the pitch and that’s what they did.

“They didn’t need too much encouragement from me though because they took ownership of it themselves.”

While Maxime Esteve and Lorenz Assignon impressed on debut, the full-time hero was Fofana, who bagged twice on his first Turf Moor outing.

Kompany concluded: “It was a turning point for us, the performance of Fofana, the positive of Maxime Esteve and the performance of Lorenz Assignon and the other players that came off the bench.

“There’s no season I imagine without individual performances like this, we have to have this week in, week out.”