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2 weeks ago
12
Mansfield gave blood and sweat to reach the FA Cup fifth round by shocking a Burnley side intent on boring everyone to tears. A stunning Louis Reed free-kick completed a hard-fought turnaround for the League One side against their labouring Premier League opponents.
There is little doubt that Burnley are getting relegated, leaving the Cup as their only hope of salvaging a desperate season, but they lacked quality from start to finish on another desperate day for Scott Parker. Mansfield were not necessarily the better side but worked harder for the victory.
Burnley made nine changes from their surprise win at Crystal Palace in midweek. It was unsurprising that Ashley Barnes was a bit rusty, having played only 138 minutes this season before kick-off, although he would have expected to find the net early on when Quilindschy Hartman sent the ball across for him to tap in, only to slide it wide, despite being under no pressure.
After 20 minutes of shadow boxing, Burnley opened the scoring. Neat play on the edge of the area between Lyle Foster and Loum Tchaouna created space for the makeshift right-back Josh Laurent, who bamboozled defender and goalkeeper to create the easiest of finishes while his opponents lay on the ground.
The Burnley chair, Alan Pace, called for fans’ “anger and frustration” to be turned into vocal support in his programme notes, a sign not all is well at the club. Turf Moor was half full, resulting in a pre-season atmosphere for James Ward-Prowse’s home debut. He looked comfortable and composed amid little pressure alongside Florentino Luis.
Parker’s patchwork team never found a rhythm, making life harder for themselves against a third-tier team who offered little going forward before the break. Tchaouna missed a good chance. By the half-hour mark, they were showing infrequent evidence of the two-division gap; Barnes controlled a pass and sent a through ball for Jacob Bruun Larsen, whose delicate first touch took him through on goal. He beat the goalkeeper, only to see the ball cleared before reaching the goalline.
There was grave concern at the start of the second half when Hjalmar Ekdal slipped 30 yards from his own goal, allowing Rhys Oates to step in and run through, only to send his shot over the bar, much to the centre-back’s relief. It was, however, a moment that gave the away fans in the stand behind a bit of hope.
Oates made amends for the almost 4,000 who travelled from Nottinghamshire when he headed home a Kyle Knoyle cross. The forward wanted to win the ball more than Laurent, outjumping the Burnley defender and leaving Max Weiss rooted to the spot as some noise was finally created inside the ground.
Chances were exchanged over a lengthy period but neither goalkeeper was called into action. There was an overall lack of quality and speed in the play as the two looked on a par. Parker sent on Hannibal Mejbri and Marcus Edwards to sharpen up his blunt team. The latter got the crowd going with some quick feet and a well-struck shot but things did not improve.
Luis went into the book for kicking Oates in the face, drawing some claret as Mansfield won a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Reed, the captain, stepped up and thrashed the ball into the top corner. Cue delirium from one quarter of Turf Moor, which was repeated at full time.
