Clarets rue costly mistakes as winless home run stretches to a year

Burnley were made to pay for inexplicable defensive mistakes as their long wait for a home league win stretched to a year with a painful defeat to Wolves.

Kyle Walker and Igor Julio were the two guilty parties as the Clarets emerged empty-handed from a game they actually played pretty well in.

Nicky Hayen’s side deservedly took a first-half lead courtesy of Jamie Vardy’s first goal for the club, only to be pegged back by a Fer Lopez strike after Walker had been dispossessed just outside his own box.

Igor then needlessly gave the ball away to allow Tawanda Chirewa to score the winner seconds after coming off the Wolves bench.

Gregoire Coudert was also culpable, failing to get strong enough hands to the strike to compound his midweek errors.

With the Clarets not in action at home until October 31, it means an entire calendar year will have passed by the time they return.

Since their 2-0 win over Leeds United on October 18, 2025, Burnley have played 21 games without tasting three points.

Hjalmar Ekdal was given the nod at centre back in the absence of Anel Ahmedhodzic, who is now serving a 12-day concussion protocol.

It was the only change from the midweek 2-2 draw against Charlton Athletic, where Nicky Hayen’s side squandered the chance to pick up their first home league win in 360 days.

Dastan Satpayev returned to the bench, having been unavailable to face the Addicks at the behest of his parent club Chelsea on his return from a hamstring injury.

Ben Amos, Jordan Beyer, Bashir Humphreys, Shurandy Sambo, Josh Cullen, Hannibal, Aaron Ramsey, Jaydon Banel, Mike Tresor, Zeki Amdouni, Ashley Barnes and Michael Obafemi all remain unavailable.

As for Wolves, they made six changes from their midweek defeat to Bolton Wanderers, with star strikers Adam Armstrong and Raul Jimenez both missing meaning young striker Sean Neave started up front.

Former Claret Kieran Trippier only made the bench.

But it was the home side who were the first to threaten, as Largie Ramazani’s searching cross was turned behind by the stretching Nasser Djiga, just as Jamie Vardy waited with baited breath just beyond him.

Igor Julio then powered a vicious effort from range inches wide of the top corner from an unlikely angle as the Clarets continued their bright start.

Buoyed by a good atmosphere, it was Burnley who continued all of the early running, with Vardy being denied by a strong hand from Jose Sa after Wolves played themselves into trouble at the back.

It looked as though the Clarets would live to rue not scoring during their purposeful start, but Vardy wasn’t to be denied on the next occasion.

The striker put Burnley ahead in the 20th minute with a fierce left-footed drive across the goalkeeper, finishing off a fine team move from back to front involving Igor, Lucas Pires and latterly Jacob Bruun Larsen, who played the all-important ball into Vardy.

There were boos ringing out from the away end as Burnley threatened a quick second, but Ramazani could only fire over the bar after the ball had fallen for him in space inside the box.

Bruun Larsen then stung the palms of Sa as Burnley hunted the second goal their excellent first-half display deserved.

We had to wait until the 35th minute for Wolves’ first chance, but the returning Ekdal was there with an important block to deny Rafiki Said’s back post effort.

The away side began to come back into things a little towards the end of the half and, lo and behold, scored with their first attempt on target.

Kyle Walker was at blame, dispossessed of the ball just outside of his own box when he just needed to clear his lines.

In fairness, Wolves worked it well afterwards as Fer Lopez beat Gregoire Coudert at his near post with a smart first-time effort.

But the frustration was how Burnley ended an excellent half level having conspired to shoot themselves in the foot with yet another basic error at the back.

Burnley were given a big test of character after the restart: how would they respond? Would they regroup and go again?

Hayen’s men probably ought to have restored their lead five minutes after the restart, when Bruun Larsen blazed over from point-blank range after being teed up inside the box. It was a poor finish from the winger, who had to hit the target as a bare minimum.

At the other end, Coudert made a good save to deny Lopez a second as he got across his goal to turn his free-kick around the post.

The Burnley stopper was then forced into another stop, denying Rafiki Said from the edge of the box but tipping over the resulting ball back into the box, which almost looped over him.

The game remained finely poised and it seemed perfectly set up for a dramatic finish, but once again Burnley shot themselves in the foot to fall behind.

This time Igor Julio was the guilty party, giving the ball away as the last man, allowing Tawanda Chirewa to go through and score with his first touch since coming off the bench.

While Coudert got a hand to it, it wasn’t enough to keep it out as the ball rebounded off the underside of the bar and in.

It almost went from bad to worse for the home side, just as the Burnley fans began to turn their ire to Alan Pace, but Coudert produced a strong hand to keep out Mateus Mane’s low effort.

Boos then rang out as the visitors wasted another golden chance to put the game to bed, with Tommy Doyle drilling wide from close range with little pressure.

Substitute Armando Broja rattled the crossbar nine minutes from time from Lucas Pires’ teasing cross, but in any case the linesman’s flag was raised for offside.

All that was left was further chants against Pace and the board as the referee blew his final whistle, with supporters in the Cricket Field Stand clashing with stewards as they attempted to unfurl a banner in the Cricket Field Stand.

TEAMS

Burnley: Coudert, Walker, Ekdal, Igor, Pires, Alleyne (Raghouber), Hatate (Edwards), Laurent, Ramazani, Bruun Larsen (Satpayev), Vardy (Broja)

Subs not used: Weiss, Roberts, Sonne, Castell, Hountondji

Wolves: Sa, Tchatchoua, Djiga, Toti, Konan (Krejci), Andre, Munetsi, Said (Bueno), Lopez (Doyle), Bellegarde (Mane), Neave (Chirewa)

Subs not used: Virginia, Trippier, James, Mosquera

Referee: Lewis Smith