Late goal denies Burnley their first win of pre-season

Burnley were denied a deserved first win of pre-season by Espanyol in their first Turf Moor outing of the summer.

After being on their travels for all of their friendlies to date, firstly in the US before a trip to Amsterdam on Sunday, Nicky Hayen’s side returned to home comforts for this midweek affair.

Despite getting off to the worst possible start, conceding after just four minutes to courtesy of a defensive howler, the Clarets were otherwise impressive and looked to be heading to a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Aaron Ramsey and Andreas Hountondji.

The second half largely fizzled out as a result of the usual changes, but Espanyol managed to nick a late equaliser - four minutes from time - from a set piece.

Despite the scoreline, the Clarets delivered another encouraging display, building on what they delivered against Ajax three days earlier.

New signing Ugo Raghbouber certainly made an impressive first impression, while Zian Flemming also looked sharp on his first friendly outing of the summer.

Burnley made four changes to their side from Sunday’s narrow 2-1 defeat to Ajax, as new signing Ugo Raghouber was thrown straight in for a first start.

There was also a first friendly appearance of the summer for Zian Flemming, while Lyle Foster was back on the bench.

Oliver Sonne and Joe Worrall were the other two players to be given an opportunity to impress from the start.

The likes of Connor Roberts and Jaydon Banel were not involved, while Zeki Amdouni remains absent following his summer involvement at the World Cup. Jordan Beyer and Josh Cullen both remain sidelined.

Quilidnschy Hartman started for Espanyol, having recently made a loan switch between the two clubs following his disappointing debut season at Turf Moor.

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His every touch was booed by the Clarets faithful as a response to his controversial recent comments, where he admitted to planning his exit midway through last season, alongside his not-so-complimentary remarks about the town of Burnley.

It was an open, lively start to proceedings, with goals being scored at either end inside the opening five minutes.

Burnley had actually started the brighter, but it was the visitors who scored first, owing to a defensive howler from the home side.

Attempting to play out from the back, Hannibal was caught dawdling on the ball, giving Jofre a simple tap in from within the six-yard box.

But the Clarets responded well, equalising within 60 seconds as Aaron Ramsey slammed home a left-footed effort high into the net from Jacob Bruun Larsen’s pullback.

Burnley continued to play some really good stuff, as they opened up their La Liga opponents with a flowing move involving new signing Raghouber, Oliver Sonne and Flemming - whose goalbound effort was deflected just wide.

As good as Burnley looked on the ball and going forwards, their play out from the back was sloppy and it only invited pressure. This resulted in another Espanyol chance, as Pere Milla fired over from just outside the box after the Clarets had been punished for another wayward pass from deep.

After a frantic start, the game soon calmed down a little, but Max Weiss was called into action just after the hour-mark to deal with an awkward shot that came through a sea of bodies, but he did well to react late and tip wide.

From the resulting corner, the ball was partially cleared to Hartman, who wellied a first-time volley right into the back of the Cricket Field Stand to huge ironic cheers.

The half otherwise largely fizzled out, with the game lacking in the tempo and intensity of the first 20 to 25 minutes.

Burnley made nine changes to their team at half-time, with Max Weiss and Joe Worrall the only two to keep their places.

The change in personnel didn’t stop the Clarets from making an ideal start to the second period though, as Andreas Hountondji slammed home to make it 2-1 after being teed up by Mike Tresor.

The striker, returning to Burnley after his loan out in Germany last season, should really ought to have added another one shortly afterwards as he raced through on goal, only to loft over the keeper and wide of the upright.

The second-half was otherwise your standard friendly fare, with changes galore and little in the way of genuine goalmouth action.

It looked as though Burnley would see out the remaining minutes and hold on for a first win of pre-season, but Espanyol had other ideas - levelling from a late corner through Kike Garcia.

It was a sloppy goal to concede from Burnley’s perspective, but it did look as though the initial delivery curled out of play before arriving in the box.

Burnley now return for one more friendly, also at Turf Moor, against Italian opposition Torino on Sunday before the competitive action gets underway with a Carabao Cup first round tie against Notts County.

TEAMS

Burnley: Weiss, Sonne (Sambo), Walker (Ekdal), Worrall, Humphreys (Pires), Raghouber (Brierley), Hannibal (Laurent), Ramsey (Clark), Edwards (Castell), Bruun Larsen (Tresor), Flemming (Hountondji, Foster)

Subs: C. Edwards, Cooney

Espanyol: Fortuno, El Hilali, Riedel, Cabrera, Hartman, Urko, Edu Exposito, Cala, Jofre, Pere Milla, Roberto

Attendance: 4,655