West Ham 2-2 Burnley: Clarets miss golden opportunity to claim much-needed win

The Clarets led 2-1 heading into eight minutes of stoppage time thanks to a David Fofana scorcher and a Konstantinos Mavropanos own goal.

But former Burnley man Danny Ings, who had been denied by VAR only seconds before, came to West Ham’s rescue with a stoppage-time equaliser.

While the result lifts Burnley off the foot of the table, it only reduces the gap to safety to 10 points with 10 games remaining.

It also means the Clarets remain without a win in their last 10 outings, with their last victory coming on December 23.

Kompany opted to name an unchanged side after Burnley were improved last time out against Bournemouth, albeit they still succumbed to a 2-0 defeat.

Josh Brownhill missed that game through suspension, but he returned to the fold by being named on the Burnley bench.

The Clarets were otherwise unchanged, with Jordan Beyer once again missing out through injury.

Aaron Ramsey, Luca Koleosho, Nathan Redmond and Lyle Foster all remain long-term absentees.

As for Ameen Al-Dakhil, he missed out once again having not featured since January 31.

As for West Ham, former Claret Maxwel Cornet missed out through injury while Aaron Cresswell replaced Emerson at left-back, after the Brazilian picked up a knock during the midweek Europa League defeat to SC Freiburg.

Danny Ings, another former Burnley man, was named on the substitute’s bench for David Moyes’ side.

Burnley made a pretty positive start to the game, looking to get on the ball and dictate things while pressing high whenever the hosts were in possession.

The Hammers soon threatened though, unleashing Jorrod Bowen whose ball across the face of goal was just a yard or two ahead of Mohammed Kudus.

At the other end, the Clarets threatened the West Ham goal for the first time as Lorenz Assignon lofted up a cross to the back post towards Jacob Bruun Larsen, who couldn’t quite get a header off at goal from just a few yards out.

The visitors continued to enjoy territory in dangerous areas of the pitch thanks to their ability to turn the ball over on a pretty regular basis in the West Ham half.

On 11 minutes, the pressure paid off when David Fofana gave Burnley the lead with a scorching strike into the top corner.

The Chelsea loanee did superbly to skip past two challenges in the middle of the park and, ignoring his teammates either side of him, lashed one home from 25 yards, giving Alphonse Areola absolutely no chance.

The hosts eventually worked their way into the game, opening Burnley up down the right when Vladimir Coufal was picked out in acres of space. But thankfully for the Clarets Josh Cullen was there to make a crucial defensive header.

Neither side offered much during a real lull in proceedings, other than a Bowen header that was glanced well wide from a Kudus cross.

The Clarets were then a little fortunate to survive after a cross in from the right caused chaos inside their box, but James Ward-Prowse was unable to get the ball under control after it reached him at the back post.

Defender Konstantinos Mavropanos then skewed wide of the Burnley goal with a hopeful effort after driving through the centre of the pitch, having fortunately missed Lucas Paqueta inside of him in a far more threatening position.

The half ended with Bruun Larsen beating the West Ham wall with a dipping free-kick from 35 yards, but Areola was able to claim relatively comfortably.

In first-half stoppage-time, loud boos rang out from the London Stadium as Burnley doubled their lead through an own-goal.

While it ultimately ended with a slice of good fortune, it involved superb build-up play from Sander Berge and Bruun Larsen, with the latter playing in Cullen. The midfielder played the ball into the six-yard box where Mavropanos diverted the ball into his own net with his outstretched leg.

The Clarets were already in dreamland, scoring twice in the first-half of a game for only the second time this season, but things could have got even better in the final seconds of the half when Berge’s low shot almost creeped in at the far post.

West Ham, who had been woeful, were booed off the pitch at the half-time break, while the travelling Burnley fans were absolutely jubilant.

It was inevitable the home side would issue a response, but no-one expected it to come so soon.

West Ham pulled a goal back inside the first 30 seconds of the second-half through Paqueta, slotting past James Trafford after beating Maxime Esteve to the ball, which allowed him to surge clear through on the Burnley goal.

The Hammers hunted a quick second to level proceedings and almost got it when Aaron Cresswell’s corner caused a goalmouth scramble, with Lorenz Assignon’s attempted clearance ricocheting off Bowen and almost into the back of the Burnley net.

The game really opened up, with chances ensuing at both ends. Fofana wasted a golden opportunity to restore Burnley’s two-goal lead when he shot straight at Areola following a quick counter, before Paqueta curled just wide seconds later at the other end.

A third goal was going to be crucial for Burnley and two more opportunities came their way to do exactly that, but they both went begging.

First, half-time substitute Josh Brownhill saw his 10-yard effort well blocked before Vitinho sent a dipping effort just wide, via the aid of a deflection.

West Ham almost equalised in bizarre circumstances midway through the second-half when Assignon threw himself to the ground holding his face. There was no elbow from Paqueta and barely even a hand.

Nevertheless, Assignon’s decision to drop to the floor came at the worst time, with a cross dropping right behind him to Kudus who thankfully blazed well over the bar.

Kompany introduced Hannes Delcroix off the bench in place of the quiet Wilson Odobert, which saw the Clarets switch to a back three.

With 14 minutes remaining, West Ham came close to drawing level in what would have been fortuitous circumstances when Coufal’s right-wing cross deflected off Charlie Taylor and clipped the top of Trafford’s crossbar.

The minutes ticked by slowly as Burnley dug in and defended well, but the ball just kept coming back at them again and again.

Tomas Soucek had a chance to score when the ball fell kindly for him but his scruffy effort was straight at Trafford.

The Hammers thought they had finally equalised four minutes from time when former Claret Danny Ings had lifted the ball over Trafford from close range.

But following a lengthy VAR check, the goal was ruled out after Michail Antonio was ruled to be offside by the slimmest of margins before cheating it into Ings’ path.

But VAR couldn’t help Burnley in stoppage time when Ings did get his goal, turning and firing past Trafford after being left completely unmarked inside the box.

That wasn’t the end of it though, far from it. Berge fired over with a glorious chance to restore Burnley’s lead before Antonio slipped a low shot inches wide of the Burnley post.

Six minutes into eight minutes of stoppage time, the woodwork came to Burnley’s rescue as Ings fired against the bar.

The final chance fell Burnley’s way and it was a big one, with Berge setting up Brownhill just eight yards out. But the midfielder was denied by a heroic block.

TEAMS

West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Mavropanos, Aguerd (Ings), Cresswell, Phillips (Antonio), Soucek, Ward-Prowse (Alvarez), Paqueta, Bowen, Kudus

Subs not used: Fabianski, Johnson, Zouma, Ogbonna, Earthy, Mubama

Burnley: Trafford, Assignon, O’Shea, Esteve, Taylor, Cullen, Berge, Vitinho (Gudmundsson), Bruun Larsen (Brownhill), Odobert (Delcroix), Fofana

Subs not used: Muric, Cork, Benson, Tresor, Amdouni, Rodriguez

Referee: Darren England