Burnley 4-0 Luton Town: Clarets coast past 10-men Hatters to replicate Sean Dyche record

The result was never really in doubt after Luton defender Kal Naismith was sent off for two bookable offences inside the opening 19 minutes.

Despite the Hatters sitting deep on the edge of their own box, Scott Parker’s side remained patient and got their reward when Luton defender Mark McGuiness turned Connor Roberts’ cross into his own net.

Lyle Foster then added a second with his first league goal since August before Josh Brownhill made it three during the second-half. Ashley Barnes then rounded off the scoring with another hugely popular goal deep into stoppage-time.

While Burnley’s long run without conceding was finally broken in midweek, James Trafford has still kept seven consecutive clean sheets on home turf.

With Sheffield United narrowly edging past Preston, Burnley stay third in the table but are now just two points off Leeds in top spot, as they don’t play Portsmouth until tomorrow.

In the midst of a busy schedule, Parker took the opportunity to freshen things up by making two changes to his starting XI.

Josh Laurent came in for Hannibal in midfield, while Lyle Foster got the nod up front ahead of Zian Flemming.

Luca Koleosho, a sub in South Wales on Tuesday night, dropped out of the squad to be replaced by Nathan Redmond.

Jordan Beyer, Bashir Humphreys, Aaron Ramsey and Mike Trestor all remain sidelined, while Jonjo Shelvey was left out for the second game running.

As for Luton, they made two changes from last weekend’s 1-0 win against Portsmouth, as Zack Nelson and Elijad Adebayo came into the side.

A quiet start to proceedings was livened up in the 18th minute when Luton were reduced to 10 men.

Kai Naismith, already on a booking, nonsensically clattered into the back of Josh Brownhill to pick up a second yellow.

The hosts almost took immediate advantage as Marcus Edwards’ dangerous cross was almost turned in by a Luton defender.

Connor Roberts, fresh from penning his new contract, then tried his luck from range only to curl narrowly over from a good 25 yards out.

With Luton predictably sitting deep and looking to frustrate the Clarets, Parker’s men had to remain patient in their build-up play.

But on the half-hour mark they found the goal they were looking for when sub Mark McGuiness, who had only been on the pitch a few minutes, turned home Connor Roberts’ inviting cross from the right.

Burnley were showing good patience on the ball and that patience was rewarded with a second just before half-time.

It was a hugely popular scorer of the goal too, with Lyle Foster registering his first league goal since the derby against Blackburn Rovers with a poacher’s finish from Jaidon Anthony’s pullback from inside the six-yard box.

Burnley, somewhat unsurprisingly, continued their dominance into the second-half. Luton though seemed to accept their fate, opting for damage limitation over an admittedly unlikely attempt to get back in the game.

The Clarets didn’t have to wait too long for their third goal to arrive though, as Josh Brownhill bagged his 12th of the campaign from close range.

The goal was created by Marcus Edwards, who beat his marker all ends up before pulling the ball back from the byline for Brownhill to turn home. Luton, however, felt Edwards had dribbled the ball out of play before teeing up the skipper.

Brownhill almost doubled his tally a few moments later when he stabbed narrowly wide of the upright after a weak Luton clearance had fallen to him just inside the box.

With the luxury of a three-goal lead, and with another game coming up on Tuesday night, Parker opted to bring off Brownhill just after the hour-mark along with Marcus Edwards.

Luton enjoyed a rare sight of goal in the 65th minute when Jacob Brown found himself in space inside the Burnley box, but James Trafford stood tall to deny Brown with a smart stop with his legs.

The Hatters almost broke Burnley’s run of clean sheets nine minutes from time when a Zack Nelson shot hit teammate Brown, wrongfooting Trafford and dropping just wide of the upright.

At the other end, Josh Laurent squandered a great chance to add further gloss to the scoreline when he blazed over from Oliver Sonne’s smart pullback.

But Laurent made up for the miss when he laid on a superb cross for Ashley Barnes to side foot home deep into stoppage-time, as the returning hero bagged his first goal since returning to Turf Moor.

TEAMS

Burnley: Trafford, Roberts, Egan-Riley, Esteve, Pires (Sonne), Cullen, Laurent, Brownhill (Sarmiento), Edwards (Benson), Anthony (Barnes), Foster (Redmond)

Subs not used: Hladky, Worrall, Hannibal, Flemming

Luton: Kaminski, Naismith, Clark (Fanne), Makosso, Nelson, Jones (Bowler), Bell, Doughty (Alli), Walsh (McGuiness), Aasgaard, Adebayo (Brown)

Subs not used: Krul, Andersen, Nordas, Morris

Referee: Tom Nield