Muric redemption, ruthless finishing and key timing: Burnley stir hopes of great escape with Sheffield United win

Let’s be frank, there was real pressure heading into Saturday’s must-win encounter at Bramall Lane.

Vincent Kompany was adamant his side had nothing to lose given they’ve already been written off, but deep down he will have known how important it was to pick up three points.

We’ve said this many times in recent weeks, but this really was last-chance saloon. Had they lost, the Clarets could have started their planning for the Championship in earnest.

Not only did Burnley win, they won in style, putting the demons of last season’s 5-2 mauling – as well as all the other poor results at Bramall Lane over the years – firmly to bed.

More importantly, it simply has to install some belief. Is the great escape well and truly on?

Kompany’s men are currently in the midst of their finest run of form of the season, losing just one of their last seven games.

While the performances have undoubtedly improved in recent weeks, the results are now finally beginning to follow. We still don’t know if it’s too little, too late, but isn't this what we wanted? For Burnley to at least go down fighting? And who knows, they might not even go down at all…

Both boxes

This was a bit of a strange encounter. You can tell we’re reaching the final throes of the season where teams throw hell to leather in last-ditch attempts to get out of trouble. At times this game resembled basketball, given the end-to-end nature of proceedings.

It was certainly entertaining, always captivating. Burnley, as one would expect, looked the more controlled, but the Blades did create chances as a result of their caution-to-the-wind, haphazard approach.

But step forward one Aro Muric. The spotlight was well and truly on the stopper after his recent gaffes, but you wouldn’t have noticed. He carried on like nothing had even happened.

The first-half was a tale of two different goalkeepers. Burnley could easily have been a goal or two down before they eventually took the lead in the 38th minute, but Muric was in imperious form.

His Sheffield United counterpart Ivo Grbic, on the other hand, didn’t cover himself in glory, allowing Jacob Bruun Larsen’s deflected effort to creep past him at his near post before, only two minutes later, failing to keep out a similar effort from Lorenz Assignon at his other post.

In the blink of an eye, a finely poised encounter had been turned completely on its head. The two goals were scrappy and involved some good fortune, but it’s about time some luck went Burnley’s way.

Scoring not once, but twice on the stroke of half-time was huge. The timing of the goals in particular was key. So often this season it’s gone the other way.

But this is Burnley, we’ve seen this script before. The opposition come firing out of the traps at the start of the second-half, get one back and nerves set in.

That looked to be the case when Gustavo Hamer showed calmness and composure to pick out the bottom corner of Muric’s net just seven minutes into the second-half. For as good as Assignon was going forwards, and he was excellent – boasting a goal and an assist – defensively he left a lot to be desired, committing himself to the floor and allowing Hamer far too much space to pick his spot.

But the Frenchman quickly atoned for the error, showing unselfishness to pick out Lyle Foster for Burnley’s third just five minutes later. Foster stuck it away with aplomb, curling home into the bottom corner with a confident first-time finish.

Again, the timing of the goal was huge. The visitors were coming under real pressure at the time, the home fans sensed Burnley blood. But restoring that two-goal cushion so quickly after conceding was a game changer.

Once the fourth went in from substitute Johann Gudmundsson, just seconds after coming on, the Clarets could finally relax. So much so, the “ole’s” came out from the buoyant travelling fans. It’s been a while since we’ve been treated to that, hasn’t it? Maybe the last time was Sheffield United at home!

The Blades have been very kind to Burnley this season, giving up six points and nine goals – which makes up 22 per cent of their goals for tally in the Premier League this term.

Fighting to the end

While Chris Wilder effectively confirmed his side are “gone”, Burnley are still hanging in there.

We’ll know a lot more about their survival chances later today when Nottingham Forest, the side Burnley are realistically chasing, are in action against fellow relegation rivals Everton.

In an ideal world they’d both lose, but the lesser of two evils would be for Everton to win, given Forest are the side that come to Turf Moor on the final day.

In between now and then, Burnley’s fixtures – on paper, at least – aren’t exactly kind, in Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham, three sides currently positioned in the top seven.

Burnley haven’t beaten a side higher than 12th so far this season, so the challenge is stark. But their recent performances – drawing with Brighton, West Ham and Chelsea, for example – proves they are getting closer.

If they can somehow find a way to be within two points of Forest heading into that final day showdown, we’ll have a titanic fixture on our hands. It’s a big if, but it’s not completely out of the equation either.

The Clarets have just got to find a way to stick in there, to remain within striking distance. If they manage to do that, you just never know…