Tottenham 2-1 Burnley: Clarets relegated back to the Championship despite valiant effort

Vincent Kompany’s men knew they had to win to keep their slim survival hopes alive ahead of next weekend’s final day encounter against Nottingham Forest.

The Clarets briefly gave themselves hope when Jacob Bruun Larsen handed them a first-headl lead with a neat finish after latching onto Sander Berge’s clever through ball.

But the lead lasted just seven minutes, with Pedro Porro lashing the home side level with a powerful drive at the near post.

Burnley stuck in the game for as long as they could in the second-half but their resistance was finally broken six minutes from time by Micky van de Ven.

The Clarets gave it absolutely everything they had in a valiant final effort, but they simply gave themselves far too much to do.

Kompany opted to make one change to his side, with Charlie Taylor replacing Josh Brownhill.

With Taylor reclaiming his place at left-back, it saw Vitinho pushed forward into a more advanced role.

Ameen Al-Dakhil, Jordan Beyer, Aaron Ramsey, Luca Koleosho and Nathan Redmond all remain sidelined.

As for Spurs, Ange Postecoglu was forced to play Oliver Skipp in defence in the absence of a recognised left-back.

After a fairly even start, the returning Taylor came to Burnley’s aid, making a crucial last-ditch block to deny James Maddison after the visitors had been cut open far too easily.

The Clarets hit back with an excellent chance of their own as Wilson Odobert picked out Vitinho with a lofted cross, but the Brazilian’s header was kept out by a flying save from Vicario.

The chances continued to arrive during what was an open start to the game, with Arijanet Muric tipping Brennan Johnson’s shot wide after the Welshman had been picked out by Dejan Kulusevski’s deep cross.

Muric did well to atone for himself after misjudging the initial cross, getting halfway off his line before quickly backtracking.

Burnley were having some joy playing the ball out from the back but too often they were wasteful as they looked to progress through the thirds.

They almost played themselves into trouble though midway through the first-half when a miskicked clearance from Muric landed at the feet of a Spurs player. The hosts worked the ball to Son whose shot from the edge of the box was straight at the Burnley keeper.

Only three minutes later, Burnley silenced the home fans by taking the lead with an excellent goal.

While Jacob Bruun Larsen was the man to tuck it away past Vicario after getting the wrong side of Oliver Skipp, the goal owed everything to Sander Berge.

The Norwegian, recently voted the club’s player of the season, showed bravery to win the ball in the centre of the park before driving forwards and delivering a pinpoint pass for Bruun Larsen.

The winger composed himself with a neat first touch to keep himself ahead of Skipp before picking out the bottom corner - much to the delight of the travelling Clarets fans.

Spurs looked to produce a quick leveller and had the chance to do so when Vitinho was dispossessed after dawdling on the ball.

Pedro Porro, the man whose stunner defeated Burnley in the FA Cup in January, tried his luck from range but was unable to keep his rising effort down.

The Spaniard was far more lethal shortly afterwards when he levelled with a powerful effort, just seven minutes after Burnley’s opener.

Porro got the wrong side of Vitinho too easily after playing a quick one-two with Johnson and subsequently blasted the ball past Muric at his near post.

An already open game then became even more stretched, as Bruun Larsen came close to restoring Burnley’s lead with a low effort that dragged just wide of the far post.

In the following attack, Muric almost gifted Spurs the lead when his weak pass from pounced upon by Johnson, who could only side foot into the side netting after noticing a big gap at Muric’s near post.

The half ended with another Bruun Larsen chance, the winger shooting straight at Vicario after being teed up by Lyle Foster’s pullback.

After coming under some pressure at the start of the second-half, Burnley squandered a huge chance to retake the lead when Wilson Odobert fired inches over, via the aid of a slight deflection.

Dara O’Shea saw a header blocked from the resulting corner before the Clarets worked the ball back into the area, where Maxime Esteve looped a header of his own just over and onto the roof of the Tottenham net.

At the other end, Muric produced an important stop to deny Maddison after the England international carved open a chance for himself inside the Burnley box.

Burnley played themselves into trouble once again when Josh Cullen played a wayward pass straight to Kulusevski, but thankfully for the visitors the winger’s effort was straight at Muric.

With 20 minutes remaining, Burnley simply had to go for broke. A point wouldn’t have been enough.

And so Kompany turned to Manuel Benson for a goal off the bench, with the previously unfancied Belgian replacing Vitinho.

But with 12 minutes remaining, the game was almost up as Son delivered a dangerous low cross that Johnson failed to steer home at the back post.

The chances continued to come for Spurs, with Pape Matar Sarr looking destined to give the home side the lead, but Muric made a wonderful stop to keep it level.

There was nothing Muric could do though when Spurs did eventually edge their noses in front through the unlikely source of Micky van de Ven, who gave the Kosovan no chance with a pinpoint low shot into the far corner of his net.

The majority of Burnley’s players slumped to the floor in the knowledge that this was the goal that confirmed their relegation.

It would have got even worse for the Clarets were it not for Muric, who produced a flying save to tip Christian Romero’s header behind.

Assignon felt he ought to have been awarded a penalty in stoppage-time when he went flying in the box under an apparent trip, but the referee remained unmoved.

Despite Burnley requiring two goals, Assignon continued to complain while he was on the floor, leading to Dara O’Shea sprinting across the pitch to lift him up.

Muric came forward in one final attempt to salvage something, but the whistle blew to end Burnley’s survival chances.

TEAMS

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Skipp (Dragusin), Sarr (Hojbjerg), Bissouma (Bentancur), Maddison (Lo Celso), Kulusevski (Scarlett), Johnson, Son

Subs not used: Austin, Royal, Bryan, Moore

Burnley: Muric, Assignon, O’Shea, Esteve, Taylor, Cullen (Amdouni), Berge, Vitinho (Benson), Bruun Larsen (Tresor), Odobert, Foster (Fofana)

Subs not used: Trafford, Ekdal, Brownhill, Gudmundsson, Rodriguez

Referee: Jarred Gillett