West Ham 1-0 Burnley: Noble penalty puts Burnley on the brink

A Mark Noble penalty was enough to condemn Burnley to the verge of relegation back to the Championship as West Ham won by the single goal.

The Hammers were awarded the spot kick in the first half and Burnley lost a man, as Michael Duff was given his marching orders after fouling Cheikhou Kouyate in the area. The Clarets now sit eight points adrift of safety with only nine points left to play for.

It was destined to lack goals at Upton Park as West Ham had gone five hours without a goal, and Burnley eight. It took 20 minutes for any real action to happen. Danny Ings, the one tasked with firing Burnley to safety took the first chance of the game. He was in space in the box but headed over, stretching his goalless streak to ten matches.

It was then West Ham’s turn to attack, Kouyate ran superbly into the area, only to be brought down by Duff’s hanging leg. Referee Jon Moss then controversially sent off Duff, much to the dismay of his team mates. Noble then took the spot kick and sent Tom Heaton the wrong way from 12 yards. So with a man and a goal down Burnley looked in real danger.

The visitors had Heaton to thank as West Ham could have easily doubled their lead through Enner Valencia’s close range effort. Also he stopped Morgan Amalfitano’s strong attempt, but Burnley went in at half time a goal down, still reeling over the sending off of Duff.

The second half lacked any real serious chances, with Burnley having no response for West Ham’s defence. West Ham simply sat back and defended their lead, shutting out their visitors and protecting their lead. They however did press a little in the second period.

Amalfitano tried another shot which curled just wide of the goal before skipper Kevin Nolan fired his shot straight at Heaton from 12 yards after being unmarked in the area. It seemed the one goal lead was sufficient enough to see the win out.

Ings and Matt Taylor went close for Burnley, with Ings hitting the side netting and Taylor’s shot being saved by Hammers ‘keeper Adrian. The final whistle blew and a sinking feeling will have engulfed Burnley as due to other results not going their way, Sean Dyche’s men are all but relegated. Loss to fellow strugglers Hull next week will see them relegated to the Championship after just one season.

With uncertainty continuing to surround Sam Allardyce regarding his future in West London, this result puts the team on 47 points with only their third win of 2015.