Dan Black's verdict: Burnley gain their revenge on Sheffield United to get one hand on the Championship trophy

Paul Heckingbottom knew what was coming when the Championship's top two met on Easter Monday.

Sheffield United inflicted one of the Clarets' two defeats in the second tier this season when running out 5-2 winners at Bramall Lane in November.

That Bonfire Night reversal in the Steel City had been the moment that had burned the most during Burnley boss Vincent Kompany's maiden managerial expedition on these shores.

The ex-Manchester City defender claimed his players had hit a wall that afternoon due to the condensed nature of the domestic schedule in the lead up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

He suggested that his players had "physically collapsed" against their rivals during the 'War of the Roses' and that he could "see it in their eyes" as the slowly slipped away.

And the four-time Premier League winner, an inductee in the prestigious Hall of Fame, will have been counting down the days — 154 of them to be exact — until he could enact revenge.

Back in November the 37-year-old, who celebrated his birthday with a 26th victory of the campaign, said: "It fuels me because I'm looking forward to Turf Moor when we get this fixture again.

"You don't roll over, you take the hurt, and next time we'll have improved."

Goals from Oli McBurnie (2), Iliman Ndiaye, Jack Robinson and Anel Ahmedhodzic certainly fanned the flames of Kompany's drive and ambition, inciting a 19-game unbeaten run - which was born on derby day against Rovers - ahead of the corresponding fixture.

Burnley's assignment had been made slightly more manageable on this occasion when goalkeeper Wes Foderingham was red-carded for denying Nathan Tella a clear goal-scoring opportunity following a misunderstanding with Robinson.

The home side's leading scorer had refused to give up the chase when Josh Cullen had lifted the ball into the channel, and capitalised when the indecision from his two opponents had left an opening.

The Southampton ace nicked the ball off the toes of the defender - who had scored an own goal past Foderingham in the reverse meeting - before tumbling over the left knee of the ex-Rangers stopper.

Referee Michael Salisbury had initially pointed to the spot, meaning Foderingham would likely have been cautioned due to the 'double jeopardy' ruling and remained on the pitch, but his decision was switched after consulting his linesman.

"It's a red card and it's totally changed the game," recognised Heckingbottom. "We lost, it's our fault, we made a mistake and then compounded it with an error in committing the foul. I know why we've lost."

It meant United had to play more than 70 minutes with 10 men, an obvious disadvantage, but they'd have faced a similarly difficult challenge had they fallen a goal behind to the league leaders on their own patch, regardless of whether they'd had 11 men on the pitch.

Burnley are now 23 games without loss at Turf Moor under Kompany in all competitions, with 12 clean sheets, and they haven't relinquished a lead in front of their own fans since Harry Clarke's late equaliser for Stoke City way back in October.

That statistic, reinforced by the nature of the Clarets' promotion-winning success over Middlesbrough at the Riverside on Good Friday, reaffirmed the belief that the hosts would've seen the game out in either scenario, whether it was 0-0 with a numerical advantage, or 1-0 and 11v11.

But they had to be patient and adaptable. Aside from Jordan Beyer's piledriver, which was turned over the top by substitute Adam Davies, the home side's productivity had been diluted and, for a 12th time this season at the Turf, they went in level at the break.

Kompany identified opportunities to transform, and fracture United's compactness, with the introductions of Manuel Benson and Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who replaced Lyle Foster and Jack Cork respectively.

He said: “When they are down to 10 men the game changes. That’s all there is. We have to adapt to the game.

“To be honest it wasn’t anything. I could have chosen between Lyle and Barnsey. The main thing I wanted to do was just get Johann and Benny on and from there I saw the way I thought was the best way for the team."

"The game became the game for them," Kompany continued. "I think with Johann it was a short turnaround from the Middlesbrough game, but it became a game for them.

"You could see straight away that it was a matter of time. We've got a good squad for these moments. Every single time we keep finding a way."

George Baldock and Tommy Doyle couldn't live with Benson after the break as the Clarets managed to get on the ball in-between the lines and stretch play.

The former Royal Antwerp forward hit the byline to assist his team-mates and chopped onto his left foot to create openings of his own, with one chance lifting supporters to their feet as it careered into the side-netting.

The deadlock was broken on the hour when the home side’s shape-shifting tendencies saw Taylor Harwood-Bellis pop up on the right hand side, Tella kept the City starlet’s deep cross alive, and Gudmundsson couldn’t have caught his finish any sweeter.

That was the Icelander’s first goal at the Turf in more than two years, having scored the equaliser against Brighton in the Premier League, and it was more than deserving of the synchronised “Viking Thunder Clap” that echoed around the stadium.

Arijanet Muric, who’d had absolutely nothing to do, preserved his side’s lead when saving at the feet of Ndiaye after Beyer’s back pass had gifted the visitors their only chance of the evening.

And that pivotal moment laid the foundations for Burnley’s second, which was a carbon copy of their first 10 minutes earlier. The lead characters were different this time around as Benson supplied the cross and Ian Maatsen got around the back to keep the ball alive, but the protagonist was unchanged and he punished United from the same spot.

After Gudmundsson was denied a hat-trick, when Davies prevented his effort from creeping inside the near post, a chorus of “Campeones, campeones, Olé Olé Olé” rang around the stadium, as the table toppers moved 14 points clear at the top with 18 left to play for.

Those chants might be slightly immature, but with the Clarets gunning for the ‘23 undefeated’ under Sean Dyche, and only four points required to eclipse the club’s record 93-point return in both 2013/14 and 2015/16, there’s absolutely no way the club loses grasp of the silverware now!