Bournemouth 2-4 Burnley: Championship leaders beat Premier League side in FA Cup

Media caption,

Kompany's Burnley knock out Bournemouth

Anass Zaroury and Manuel Benson both scored twice as Championship leaders Burnley beat Premier League strugglers Bournemouth in a thrilling FA Cup third-round tie at Vitality Stadium.

Benson's opener for the Clarets was cancelled out by a Ryan Christie effort, before Zaroury struck twice to give Burnley a 3-1 half-time lead.

Dominic Solanke cut the deficit but Benson added a fourth minutes later.

Bournemouth had chances late on but Burnley held on for a deserved victory.

The result will heap further pressure on Bournemouth boss Gary O'Neil with the Cherries having now lost nine of their past 11 matches.

In contrast Vincent Kompany's Burnley, five points clear at the top of the Championship, continued to impress with an assured win over top-flight opposition, their 12th victory in 14 games.

"The rest of the performance isn't important because the silly three goals we conceded are irreparable," O'Neil told BBC Sport at full-time.

"If you're going to concede goals like that you can't win football matches. We need to improve quickly - there's a lot going on and we need to improve quick."

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Burnley are five points clear at the top of the Championship

Kompany 'delighted with performance'

Both sets of supporters will probably say this result is not a shock.

Burnley are the leading scorers across England's top four divisions, while Bournemouth have now lost their past five games across three competitions.

Bournemouth are looking over their shoulder, just one point above the Premier League relegation zone; Burnley are flying and deservedly went in front through Benson's early finish.

Christie soon levelled, pouncing on a loose pass from defender Josh Cullen, only for Zaroury to restore Burnley's lead by finishing off a fine team move.

Zaroury added his second with a curling effort after some good footwork just before the break, but Solanke made it 2-3 when he headed in a rebound after Bailey Peacock-Farrell had saved his initial one-on-one.

But just as Bournemouth gained a slither of hope, Benson's side-foot finish nine minutes later restored Burnley's two-goal lead.

The hosts nearly bounced back when Christie saw an effort cleared off the line and Lloyd Kelly's follow-up header hit the woodwork.

Burnley though, who have only lost to Watford, Sheffield United and Manchester United this season, held on as their supporters chanted "we're going up, you're going down".

"I'm delighted with the performance," said Kompany. "It allows us to continue on our journey.

"Like we saw in the League Cup, eventually come the big dogs and then it becomes really difficult.

"So we will take it game by game. We will always try and win whoever we play."

Burnley face Coventry in the Championship next Saturday, while Bournemouth, who were booed off by some supporters at full-time, have a crucial game against Brentford on the same day in the Premier League.

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