Burnley beat Middlesbrough to earn promotion back to Premier League
Burnley have won promotion back to the Premier League with a record seven games to spare courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium this evening.
Goals from Ashley Barnes and Connor Roberts, either side of a Chuba Akpom penalty, were enough to seal all three points for Vincent Kompany’s side and rubber-stamp an immediate return to the top flight.
A goalless draw between promotion hopefuls Millwall and Luton Town earlier in the day meant that Burnley arrived at the Riverside knowing that victory would be enough to guarantee a top-two finish with seven games of their season still to go.
Middlesbrough had not been beaten at home in the league under manager Michael Carrick, who has turned the North-East outfit into promotion contenders themselves since taking over, and had picked up 25 of the last 27 points on offer in front of their own fans heading into Good Friday’s match.
However, that unbeaten run is now over, with Burnley’s triumph leaving them 19 points clear of third-placed Luton, who only have 18 points left to play for.
The Clarets underwent wholesale changes following their relegation from the Premier League last season, with Kompany quickly instilling a new playing style and turning Burnley into runaway Championship leaders during his first season at the helm.
Having won 24 and lost just two of their opening 28 games of the campaign, victory number 25 came courtesy of goals from Barnes and Roberts at the Riverside.
Barnes broke the deadlock after only 12 minutes when he met Josh Brownhill’s drilled low shot from the edge of the box with an opportunistic finish for his 50th league goal for Burnley.
Middlesbrough threatened to spoil the party at the start of the second half when Josh Cullen bundled into his man inside the box, conceding a penalty which Akpom duly dispatched for his 26th league goal of the campaign.
However, Roberts scored the goal which clinched promotion shortly after the hour mark, converting Nathan Tella’s low cross from close range for what proved to be the winner.
Burnley’s promotion with seven games to spare is a record since the competition was rebranded in 2004-05, and Kompany’s men will now set their sights on the 100-point mark, which would require them to win 13 more points from the 21 still on offer to them.
Only three teams have ever reached 100 points or more in the Championship era, with Reading’s class of 2005-06 currently holding the single-season record of 106 points.
