Fulham vs Burnley. Premier League.
Craven Cottage.
Free match highlights and report as Ashley Westwood and Chris Wood strikes relegate Fulham to the Championship and guarantee another season of Premier League football for Burnley
Tuesday 11 May 2021 06:00, UK
Fulham's relegation to the Championship was confirmed by an abject 2-0 defeat to Burnley, who guaranteed another season of Premier League football with a clinical victory at Craven Cottage.
Scott Parker's side needed four wins from their final four games to have any chance of avoiding the drop but were comprehensively beaten as their season-long stay in the top flight ended with three games to spare.
Fulham's fate was effectively sealed before half-time as Ashley Westwood's opener and Chris Wood's emphatic 50th Burnley goal left the hosts needing to score three unanswered goals - the same they had managed in their previous 11 outings.
Fortune favoured Fulham after the interval when goalkeeper Alphonse Areola avoided a straight red card for a clear handball outside the area, but the Cottagers were unable to take advantage of the reprieve, with Andre-Frank Anguissa cannoning the underside of the Burnley bar with the hosts' best effort of sparking a comeback.
Defeat - Fulham's 18th of an arduous campaign - sends them straight back to the Championship at the first attempt, while Burnley climb up to 14th with a victory which sees Sean Dyche deliver a sixth successive season of Premier League football.
In what was the first of four defining games to save their season, Fulham fashioned the first opening on 12 minutes, but Ademola Lookman's hesitancy when reaching Ivan Cavaleiro's cross handed James Tarkowski the opportunity to intervene with a last-gasp goal-mouth clearance.
Burnley responded as Ben Mee forced Areola into a save with a header before finding the back of the Fulham net, only for Wood's effort to be chalked off instantly, with Matej Vydra adjudged to have taken the ball out of play in the build-up.
Fulham were indebted to Tosin Adarabioyo and Antonee Robinson as headers from Wood and Tarkowski were deflected behind for corners in quick succession, but it was only a matter of time before the hosts' already slim survival hopes were dented.
Vydra peeled in behind the Fulham defence to gather a long ball over the top, dropped a shoulder to skip around Joachim Andersen, brilliantly kept the ball in play and then picked out the late-arriving Westwood, who bundled in Burnley's opener.
One became two on the stroke of half-time as Wood's sumptuous swerving volley found the top corner to leave Fulham with an almost insurmountable task in the second half.
Parker resisted the temptation to make alterations at the break but waiting just nine minutes before introducing January signing Josh Maja, and the addition of an attacking reinforcement resulted in concerted Fulham pressure in search of a lifeline.
Aleksandar Mitrovic nearly delivered one before the hour mark, but his near-post header from Bobby Decordova-Reid's cross rippled the side-netting.
Fulham felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Charlie Taylor lunged in on Lookman, but he was adjudged to have made contact with both man and ball by referee David Coote and VAR Peter Bankes.
The hosts' frustrations with the officials were felt equally by Burnley moments later when Fulham goalkeeper Areola escaped punishment for a clear handball outside which prevented Vydra from racing through on the unguarded goal, but, again, VAR chose not to intervene.
Anguissa could have kick-started a late Fulham rally but his thunderous drive crashed off the underside of the Burnley bar.
Substitute Jay Rodriguez had the chance to put Fulham out of their misery, but Areola, who was fortunate to still be on the pitch, produced a fine save to give his side a fighting chance heading into the final quarter of an hour, but it was one they couldn't take.
Fulham manager Scott Parker: "I'm hurt, I'm gutted. This has been looming us, we've flirted with it for a long time, there are no words that I can say other than I am gutted we have not been successful this year. Staying in this division was success for us, we knew it was always going to be a challenge, but it is bitterly disappointing not to do that.
"The performance levels have been there, the fine margins and gulf in class in this division are so small. We've been so close at times but yet so far. Over the last five or six games, we've just fallen short.
"My players have given absolutely everything this year, and I have seen that again tonight. Endeavour, desire, effort, but we have fallen short on quality at times. Over the coming weeks we need to have some discussions and work out what we need to do to move forward and try and get off this rollercoaster."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche: "It was an awkward game for obvious reasons, but we dealt with that. The second half was an ugly, but you expect that, and we dealt with it very well.
"To secure a sixth season in the Premier League with three games to spare having got just two points from our first seven games is a really big achievement. These players deserve a lot of credit.
"This year has been my most challenging as a manager off the pitch with the long-winded sale of the club where not a lot of finance was put in, so a lot of credit goes to my players and staff.
"You've got to work through all those challenges off the pitch to make sure the team is still motivated on it, and we never lack motivation to be fair."
Sky Sports' Gary Neville:
"The difference between the two sides was know-how, experience. It was men against boys, Burnley looked like a team who trusted what they were asked to do. Fulham, like all the three teams at the bottom, have not been good enough throughout the season. I trust Burnley, I didn't think for one second Fulham would win. Burnley are reliable and Fulham aren't, they are inconsistent and not clinical, and that is the big difference, Burnley are clinical and ruthless."
Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher:
"If you're a team who are going to be in the bottom half and you've got a player who can get you goals in double figures like Chris Wood, you'll be a long way towards staying in the Premier League. That is why he is so vital to Burnley."
Burnley host Leeds on Saturday at 12.30pm, before Fulham travel to Southampton on Saturday at 3pm - live on Sky Sports Premier League.
