Ben Mee came up with a rare goal in the 71st minute  to earn Burnley a massive victory over Champions League chasing Tottenham Hotspur.

It is a win that leaves Sean Dyche's men just two points away from Premier League survival, with a game in hand over Newcastle United in 17th.

The result will have been a bitter blow to Spurs manager Antonio Conte, who was riding a wave of ecstasy after his team's victory against Manchester City, last weekend. They remain seven points away from a top-four place.

Story of the match

The original fixture between these two teams was supposed to have been played in December but it was postponed with less than an hour until kick-off, due to heavy snow fall.

While conditions were a little wild this time around, it was tame compared to the snow back then and equally more relaxed than the torrential weather that Turf Moor had seen over recent weeks!

Burnley made two changes to the team that beat Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. Jay Rodriguez replaced Maxwel Cornet – who failed a late fitness test – while James Tarkowski replaced Nathan Collins after returning from isolation. 

Unsurprisingly, Conte named an unchanged team from their match against City. 

Within a minute, Heung-min Son spun Harry Kane in-behind the Burnley defence and his cross was almost turned into his own goal by Tarkowski – with Nick Pope scrambling across his goal to watch the ball into the side-netting. 

It was an early scare for the home side but they came roaring back with a dominant spell of territorial play in the Tottenham half. There wasn't too much penetration but it was an impressive show of character from a Burnley team that were playing with confidence. 

On 13 minutes, though, Josh Brownhill did test Hugo Lloris with a volley from the edge of the area; it was a fairly gather for the experienced keeper. 

At the other end, Spurs were struggling to create openings but Cristian Romero slipped and dragged his effort wide after collecting Dejan Kulusevski's neat pick-out in the box. 

Dwight McNeil takes on Dejan Kulusevski: Stu Forster/GettyImages
Dwight McNeil takes on Dejan Kulusevski: Stu Forster/GettyImages

 

Rodriguez glanced a header just wide from an offside position and, moments later, Emerson Royal sent an effort flying well wide after chopping inside on his left foot. These two moments summed the opening half-an-hour up: lots of enthusiasm but a lack of quality. 

Spurs were forced into a half-time switch with Rodrigo Bentancur no doubt feeling the after effects of a groin strain sustained in the first-half. It was a blow for the visitors, who sent Harry Winks on in his place.

Nonetheless, they started the second-half with purpose and Kane rattled the crossbar with a header after latching onto Son's curling free-kick delivery – the closest that anybody had come to an opener. 

It was an immediate shift from Spurs: playing with a zip and a more attacking purpose. 

Burnley did well to keep the Tottenham train at bay and, at the other end, Mee kept Lloris on his toes with a fairly tame header from Dwight McNeil's free-kick to the back-post. 

Tottenham fought back, though, and Kane might have done better with a clear effort from 25-yards that he dragged wide. It was only a half-chance but a striker of his pedigree is more than capable. 

Spurs kept banging on the door and, after pinball in the Burnley box, Pope did remarkably well to react to a close-range effort from Ben Davies, getting a strong hand on the ball to turn it round the post.

Conte made another attacking switch, bringing Lucas Moura on for Emerson Royal, pushing Kulusevski to wing-back. But Kulusevski wasn't concerned about the proverbial deeper position and the Swede very nearly scored with a curling shot that Mee did well to head behind. 

Again, Burnley continued to fight back. McNeil whipped another killer ball into the box and Rodriguez's powerful header was well parried by Lloris. It was Burnley's best chance of the game by some margin. 

Almost immediately after that missed opportunity, Spurs broke well and Kulusevski fired agonisingly wide after a neat tee-up by Son, looking to bend an effort in to the bottom corner from inside the box. 

It looked like a goal was going to come at some point but, despite having to hang in for much of the second-half, it was Burnley who took the lead. 

Brownhill's lofted free-kick to the back-post was headed back across goal by Mee and Lloris couldn't react quickly enough to keep the ball out. It was a well-timed header by the Clarets captain, who simply wanted it more than his marker, Romero. 

In the final 10 minutes, Mee was left unmarked again at the back-stick and his prod across the six-yard box looked destined to be turned in, only for Rodriguez to inexplicably prod over when it looked harder to miss! 

It meant a nervy end to the match for the home team, as Lucas Moura blasted a volley over the top and Ryan Sessegnon called Pope into action with a fairly tepid effort from 12-yards. 

In the end, Burnley held on for what could prove to be one of their biggest three points of the season, while it was another case of what might have been for Tottenham. Very "Spursy" to win against the Champions of England before losing at Turf Moor, isn't it? 

VAVEL Logo
About the author