Daily Times

LANCASHIRE: Burnley’s Ashley Barnes fired a last-gasp winner as his off-colour side climbed to the heady heights of fourth in the Premier League with a fortuitous 1-0 win over struggling Stoke City on Tuesday. There was little to warm the home crowd on a wet and windy night but those who braved the wintry weather were celebrating in the 89th minute as Barnes seized on a ricochet off team mate Scott Arfield and thumped a shot past Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland. Burnley moved above Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Liverpool and are the highest they have been in the top flight since 1975. Sean Dyche’s side have played much better this season, but despite managing only two shots on target all night against the team with the worst defence in the Premier League, they found a way to get their ninth win from 17 games. Stoke’s form has been in direct contrast to Burnley’s and the pressure was starting to mount on manager Mark Hughes after his side’s second-half capitulation in a 5-1 defeat by Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday. That left them with 16 points from 16 games, which represented their worst start to a Premier League season, but they could count themselves unlucky not to return to the Potteries with at least a point on Tuesday.

Published in Daily Times, December 14^th 2017.