Manuel Benson overcame gifting Middlesbrough the result in hearth his first Burnley brace and take Vincent Kompany’s workforce six factors clear on the prime of the Championship.
Benson’s blunder had allowed Boro’s Duncan Watmore to interrupt the impasse early within the second half however the proficient Belgian bounced again brilliantly to attain twice in seven minutes across the hour.
An personal aim by Jonny Howson then secured Burnley’s victory to protect their unbeaten dwelling file this season and finish Boro’s three-match profitable run beneath Michael Carrick.
Manuel Benson scored a brace on Saturday as Burnley beat Middlesbrough 3-1
It got here as one thing of a redemption arc after the winger handed Middlesbrough the lead
In a dramatic finale Burnley’s Connor Roberts was despatched off after he was adjudged to have dealt with Chuba Akpom’s header – with Akpom then seeing his 89th-minute penalty saved by Arjanet Muric.
Boro had arrived with a transparent gameplan to let Burnley have the ball and see if they may break down a cussed defence.
It took 24 minutes for the house facet to have any form of likelihood when Johan Berg Gudmundsson beat the offside entice just for Zack Steffen to avoid wasting on the close to submit.
Carrick’s males reached the interval with their aim intact however there have been late warning indicators with Josh Brownhill firing over from eight yards after Dael Fry’s miscontrol and Benson seeing his shot blocked by Darragh Lenihan.
The win leaves Vincent Kompany’s facet six factors away from second place Sheffield United
The introduction at half-time of Watmore for Marcus Forss produced an early reward with the ahead netting his third aim in 5 video games after 49 minutes.
Benson acrobatically tried to maintain the ball in by the midway line however solely succeeded in pinging it again in direction of his personal aim the place the alert Watmore reached it earlier than Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
The previous Sunderland participant ran on to slide a tidy low end previous Arjanet Muric earlier than operating off to have fun with the travelling followers behind the aim.
Duncan Watmore scored Boro’s solely aim of the sport as they briefly threatened an upset
Boro claimed a penalty that may have made it 2-0 however Chuba Akpom’s protestations that he’d been fouled by Harwood-Bellis had been waved away.
The guests then gave the impression to be completely satisfied to hold on for 1-0 with goalkeeper Steffen booked for timewasting – nevertheless it proved a untimely transfer.
After 60 minutes, Benson made amends for his error by conjuring up the equaliser.
There appeared little hazard when he collected a go from Beyer by the right-hand touchline however he brilliantly lower inside Ryan Giles and rifle a low end into the underside nook earlier than Steffen may get throughout.
For an encore, the winger scored one other magnificence seven minutes later.
His curled cross from the touchline was aimed in direction of Jay Rodriguez however when the striker missed the ball the trajectory took it into the nook by way of the within of the submit.
Burnley are subsequent in motion in opposition to Manchester United within the Carabao Cup on Wednesday
It was Benson’s seventh aim of the season following his summer time transfer from Antwerp and his sixth in 9 video games.
Any hopes Boro had of a comeback evaporated after 72 minutes. Harwood-Bellis jumped for a cross by Brownhill however the contact got here from customer’s captain Jonny Howson with the ball flying into his personal web.
Boro thought they’d been given a lifeline when referee David Webb pointed to the spot for handball. Roberts protested his innocence as he was despatched off, saying the ball had struck the crossbar, however Burnley prevented the double jeopardy when Akpom’s weak penalty was saved.
