Southampton 4-3 Burnley
- Published
Former Burnley striker Jay Rodriguez helped knock his old club out of the FA Cup as Southampton survived a second-half comeback by the Championship side.
Rodriguez scored from close range after Burnley had come back from 2-0 down before Adam Lallana sealed the win.
Kevin Long's late close-range header was not enough for the brave visitors.
Nathaniel Clyne and Rickie Lambert had earlier scored from 20 yards before Sam Vokes' header and Danny Ings' angled shot pulled Burnley level.
Childhood Southampton fan Ings hit the post for Burnley minutes before substitute Lallana gave Southampton a 4-2 lead as the Premier League men were made to fight all the way for their third-round victory.
Rodriguez, who signed for Southampton for a fee in the region of £7m in 2012 after five years at the Clarets, had also come off the substitutes' bench after Lambert had limped off with a leg injury.
And his predatory instincts were needed as Burnley's prolific strike duo Ings and fellow Saints fan Vokes took their combined tally for the season to 31 goals in a thrilling second half.
The Clarets, sitting second in the table, made their intentions known early on with Scott Arfield curling a 20-yard shot inches wide.
Saints have lost their last two Premier League matches but grew in confidence as the half wore on, enjoying plenty of possession without really threatening a well-organised Burnley defence.
And, with their first notable effort, the hosts took the lead through Clyne's 25-yard strike which flew into the top corner to leave goalkeeper Tom Heaton helpless.
Six minutes later, Lambert punished the Clarets for playing in their own half. The England striker collected the ball with his back to goal, turned, and fired past Heaton from 20 yards.
Southampton are already missing record signing Dani Osvaldo for the next two games, after he received a three-match ban for violent conduct, and will be left fearing a striker shortage for important league games ahead as Lambert limped off soon after.
Burnley refused to be daunted by their task and Vokes headed home his 11th goal of the campaign from Dean Marney's cross to lift the vocal visiting fans soon after the restart.
Minutes later the buoyant Clarets were level when Danny Ings raced on to a hopeful ball, cut inside, and fired low past Kelvin Davis at the near post.
Parity had not been restored for long when Rodriguez rolled the ball into the net to give his side the lead, a goal he declined to celebrate because of his Burnley history.
When Lallana drove through the midfield before shooting past Heaton from 20 yards it looked as though it was game over but Sean Dyche's men refused to give up and Long headed into the net from close range to set up a frantic finale.
Southampton assistant manager Jesus Perez:
"Sometimes one of the sides is clinical and the other isn't. That was the case today. We scored two great goals. Burnley started the second half better. We woke up after they equalised.
"Everyone can see how well Adam Lallana is doing this season. He is always doing great things. He is an example to the squad. He is an example in training.
"Rickie Lambert has got a dead leg. We don't want to take any risks when we are in a tough period for injuries."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche:
"Southampton are a big club with some big players and we have more than matched them at the end.
"We were still going at it at 4-2 and 4-3 and right to the end. One of our biggest mantras is to have no excuses, no fear and no regrets.
"The harshness of the business is you don't always get what you deserve. We possibly deserved a little bit more and didn't get it, but if you perform like that often enough, you win more games than you lose."
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- Published4 January 2014