Burnley keep slim survival hopes alive with win over Brentford

Burnley registered their first win in 11 Premier League games as Vincent Kompany’s relegation-threatened side defeated 10-man Brentford 2-1 at Turf Moor.

The Clarets took the lead through a 10th-minute Jacob Bruun Larsen penalty given after a foul on Vitinho by Sergio Reguilon, who received a straight red card.

David Datro Fofana, having been guilty of a remarkable miss late in the first half, then doubled the advantage with a finish just past the hour mark.

Kristoffer Ajer pulled a goal back for Brentford with eight minutes of normal time to go but Burnley were able to see out what was their first victory of 2024, and only their fourth in the league this season.

Boss Kompany had emphasised pre-match that he had not given up hope of avoiding relegation and after ending their winless run, the gap between second-bottom Burnley and safety stands at eight points with nine games left to play.

Fifteenth-placed Brentford, meanwhile, are four points above the drop zone as their own sequence without victory extended to a sixth match.

Kompany made one change from last weekend’s 2-2 draw at West Ham, opting to drop goalkeeper James Trafford – previously an ever-present in the league this season – and bring Arijanet Muric into the team for his Premier League debut.

One of those coming into Brentford’s starting line-up as boss Thomas Frank made two adjustments from the 2-1 loss at Arsenal was the fit-again Reguilon, whose return proved extremely short-lived.

An early Burnley attack saw Josh Cullen swing the ball into the box, where Vitinho went to ground following contact from behind from the on-loan Tottenham defender.

VAR intervened and after referee Darren Bond had watched the incident back pitchside, a penalty was awarded,