Paul Lambert had made no bones about it: Stoke needed to take three points from this match to retain hope of paying their arrears before the arrival of the relegation bailiff. They failed, so Lambert revised his view: his team can still avoid eviction from the Premier League provided they win all three of their remaining matches. He knows how unlikely that it is given that Stoke have won only one in 12 since his appointment in January.
“We have to go to Anfield [on Saturday] and get a result, then we have to get results against Crystal Palace and Swansea,” he said. “We need wins.”
They seemed on course to get one here thanks to Badou Ndiaye’s fine goal in the 11th minute. But Mame Birame Diouf fluffed a wonderful chance to add to that before Ashley Barnes cancelled it out. It was Barnes’s ninth league goal of the season, three more than any of Stoke’s strikers. The lack of a reliable goalscorer is one of the reasons why Stoke are heading for the Championship while Burnleylook to be on their way to Europe.
Lambert may not have overseen a victory since the win over Huddersfield on his first day in the job but he has at least inspired a fighting spirit. Here the Potters went straight for the Clarets’ jugular. The Scot deployed two strikers, giving Peter Crouch a rare start alongside Diouf. With Sean Dyche’s men aligned in their usual formation, the clash had an old school character, both sides set up in 4-4-2s and unashamed to play a direct style. With each set of supporters singing “England’s No 1” in tribute to their respective goalkeepers, there were plenty of similarities between the sides and it is a tribute to Dyche, and damning on Stoke, that the sides are separated by 12 places and 24 points.
The early skirmishing was scrappy but Ndiaye’s goal came at the end of a nice move. Joe Allen released Xherdan Shaqiri down the left and the Swiss crossed for Ndiaye, who headed to Diouf, who laid the ball back to his compatriot. In one movement Ndiaye switched the ball from his left foot to his right, sidestepping Jack Cork, and then swept a shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards. It was the Senegalese midfielder’s first goal since joining for £14m from Galatasary in January and the roar it inspired around the ground attested to the hope it spawned.
Moments before half-time the crowd leapt to their feet in anticipation of a goal that would have made Stoke’s lead more comfortable. Moritz Bauer produced a perfect cross for Diouf, who was free seven yards out. But the striker stalled in two minds – to shoot first time or take a touch? – and let the ball squirt under his foot. Diouf howled at the sky while home fans turned the air blue. The miss proved to be as costly as they feared. “It was huge,” Lambert said later. “But I’ll never criticise a player who gives me everything and Mame does that.”
Jack Butland prevented Burnley from inflicting more torment early in the second half, batting away a header from James Tarkowski after a corner. That was just agony postponed. In the 62nd minute Tarkowski, unmarked at the back post, got his head to a cross by Ashley Westwood and although the goalkeeper made an even better save than the previous one, Barnes nudged the rebound into the net from close range.
Stoke blustered forward in search of the win. Lambert introduced Tyrese Campbell, an 18-year-old who has been scoring prolifically for Stoke’s under-23 team. Perhaps the teenager could show the predatory skills that none of his senior colleagues have been able to muster regularly this season? He had one shot and got it on target. But it was not enough to beat Nick Pope or deliver salvation for Stoke. Nor was Stephen Ireland’s curling shot from 20 yards two minutes from time. It skimmed the post, leaving Stoke clutching at straws for survival.
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