Vincent Kompany's verdict on Burnley's defeat to Everton, Muric error and O'Shea red card
Vincent Kompany refused to be critical of his Burnley players following their damaging defeat to relegation rivals Everton.
The Clarets lost 1-0 at Goodison Park in a game that had been billed as a must-win down at the bottom end of the Premier League table.
Despite performing well in the first-half, all of their good work was undone with the last action of the half when Dominic Calvert-Lewin capitalised on Arijanet Muric’s costly error.
Burnley looked to fight their way back into the game in the second 45 but any realistic hopes of a comeback were dashed when Dara O’Shea was sent off.
Reflecting on the game, Kompany said: “You’d like good performances to always be rewarded with the maximum amount of points. That’s not the case today.
“There were some key moments again, but it’s football. They’re things that happen.
“Focusing on the manner [of their goal] has no real value because it’s been dotted around the season in a variety of ways. The big thing is: what did you do to give yourselves a game at Goodison?
“We know the strengths of Everton and I felt the team handled it really well and did exactly what it needed to do.
“We frustrated the opponent and built some momentum in the game, but our momentum collapsed twice with moments of our own doing.
“I can’t for one second criticise the effort of the team and the idea to come here and play like this. People forget we’re a team that has just come up playing in a really important game against a team that has seen a lot of investment over the years.
“Sometimes the harshest thing is the result.”
Kompany, who has criticised the standard of refereeing in recent weeks, also questioned Michael Oliver’s decision to dismiss O’Shea following a blatant foul on former Claret Dwight McNeil.
He added: The letter of the law says he should have been denying a goalscoring opportunity to be sent off. I’ll let you guys make your own judgement on that.
“There was a lot of force on that ball so it was a pretty comfortable pick up for the goalkeeper, but I guess you guys will make your own minds up on this one.”