Burnley 0-1 Liverpool: Salah delivers hammer blow as Reds dig deep | OneFootball

Liverpool had to turn to their late show yet again after a resilient Burnley looked to have held out for a massive point against the champions at Turf Moor.

Alas, an extremely late penalty allowed for Mohamed Salah to win the day right at the very end.

As it happened

The Premier League champions arrived at Turf Moor looking to continue their 100% start to the new campaign. After an unprecedented summer of spending, British record signing Alexander Isak was left out of the squad as Liverpool faced Burnley with an unchanged side from their victory against Arsenal two weeks ago.

Burnley, who had endured a tough start to their season having already faced Spurs and United away from home, were looking for a shock result to add to their three point tally. As-well as Burnley needing a result to keep away an early write off for relegation. Scott Parker was looking to banish old demons, the last time the Clarets head coach faced Liverpool it resulted in a 9-0 thrashing and cost him his job at Bournemouth.

The game was a showing of just why Burnley can surprise many this season and why they held such an incredible record of just 16 goals conceded in 46 games. From the off, the Clarets’ defensive discipline was in full force, they forced Liverpool to a majority of possession yet very little chances. Frustrating the champions for almost the entirety of the game.

The Reds had to rely on long range efforts from Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch after the Clarets had closed off every blade of grass inside their 18-yard box.

With Liverpool knocking on the door for the majority, Burnley were dealt a massive blow after midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu was sent off for a second bookable offence after a tackle on Florian Wirtz. Burnley’s resolve was always going to be pushed to the limit being down to ten men yet they showed no signs of letting up, Maxime Estève in particular was a stalwart for the Clarets.

With Burnley just minutes from being the only club to take points off Liverpool this season, the levee broke deep into the five minutes of added time. Substitute Hannibal Mejbri handled an incoming Jeremie Frimpong cross to gift Liverpool the break they were after.

Despite a disappointing afternoon by his lofty standards, Salah stepped up and converted the spot-kick to move himself up to fourth in the Premier League all time top goal scorers and break Burnley hearts.

In what would have been a massive point for Parker’s side, Burnley were left with late heartbreak again and fall to 17th in the league table, whereas a defiant Liverpool continue their perfect start with record signing Isak still to come.

Despite the loss, there are plenty of positives for Parker to take. His side have clearly retained their defensive discipline that saw them gain promotion last season. This strategy is a far cry from Vincent Kompany’s possession-based approach the last time the Clarets competed in the top flight. However, only time will tell if these different approaches yield different results.

The Line-ups

BUR: Dúbravka, Walker, Estève, Laurent, Ekdal, Hartman; Tchaouna, Cullen, Ugochukwu, Anthony; Foster

LIV: Alisson; Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike