Burnley New Boy Rescues Home Point
Loan signing David Datro Fofana was the hero for Burnley as the Vertu Motors-backed side battled back from two goals down to secure a vital point against Fulham.
Burnley went into the game on the back of a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City in the previous match, where two early goals from Julian Alvarez has ended any hope of Vincent Kompany’s side securing a shock result against his former club.
The chances of a victory against Fulham were seen as more realistic however, particularly given that Burnley had secured all three points in the reverse fixture prior to Christmas – when goals from Wilson Odobert and Sander Berge had lifted the Clarets off the bottom of the table.
Things didn’t start well for the home side at Turf Moor when Joao Palhinha nodded in a corner after 17 minutes, with a slight deflection off Berge being enough to send the ball beyond ‘keeper James Trafford.
It got worse just a few minutes later when a long ball over the top fell to the feet of Rodrigo Muniz, who was able to lob the ball over Trafford from the edge of the box to give Fulham a 2-0 lead.
Andreas Pereira had a chance to make it three before the break, with Burnley’s best chance falling to Odobert who shot narrowly wide from a tight angle after bursting into the box.
Fulham also started strongly in the second half, with Willian seeing a shot saved by Trafford before the ‘keeper was forced to tip a header from Tosin Adarabioyo over the bar as the Londoners looked to wrap up the game.
The game changed however when Fofana – who signed on loan from Chelsea during the January window – was introduced shortly after the hour mark, setting up a chance for Josh Brownhill to smash over the bar.
After a Fulham corner, Burnley were able to break quickly with 20 minutes to go and when Bernd Leno misjudged a cross, Fofano was left with an empty net to nod in his first goal for the club.
Heading into stoppage time, Burnley were still chasing the game but a cross from Odobert was turned in by Fofana to make it 2-2 and salvage a point – marking the first time this season that the Clarets had come back to earn something from a losing position.
Burnley now head to Anfield to take on Liverpool this coming weekend.