Brownhill edges Burnley towards promotion with win at nine-man Watford
Josh Brownhill celebrates scoring Burnley's second goal in front of their supporters.
Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
For a large portion of this match – pretty much the bulk of the first half, in fact – any spectator would have been hard-pressed to identify the Premier League-destined team on the cusp of an all-time Football League record for clean sheets.
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Not only did Watford find the rarest of routes past James Trafford, but the Burnley goalkeeper was forced to endure a torrid time to prevent the hosts from becoming the first team to score two goals against him in the Championship this season.
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And then, with a flurry of cards, the game was over and the thoughts of Scott Parker's side could once again return to Premier League football next season.
By the time Watford were reduced to nine men, the hosts had already relinquished their early lead and found themselves 2-1 down after goals from Zian Flemming and Josh Brownhill. Whether they could have found a route back to parity will remain unknown.
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How you view the referee Matt Donohue's decision to send off Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe in the space of nine minutes likely depends on where your allegiances lie.
Given that he had already been booked, Sissoko's decision to return Flemming's gentle push with a heftier shove of his own was little short of stupidity. Kayembe could count himself rather more hard done, also shown a second yellow when he put his arm out to fend off a challenge and inadvertently connected with Marcus Edwards' neck.
There is not much nine men can do from there. Burnley's unbeaten league run now stands at an extraordinary 30 games and it is looking increasingly difficult to envisage any way of preventing their promotion. Victory against fellow promotion-chasers Sheffield United on Easter Monday will secure a return to the top flight.
It was far from plain sailing though. Considering their well-deserved reputation as the toughest team to score against in the English game, the manner in which the visitors had fallen behind after just eight minutes was an alarm.
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Malian teenager Mamadou Doumbia must have been shocked by the ease with which he was allowed to find space to nod a fine looping cross from 20th birthday boy Rocco Vata goalwards. Days after he was named on a three-strong shortlist for Championship player of the season, a full-stretch Trafford could do no more than palm the header against the inside of the left post and into the net. The wait goes on to match Port Vale's all-time Football League record of 30 clean sheets, set in the 1953/54 third division north.
If that goal came as a shock, it was matched only by disbelief that Watford – and Kayembe in particular – did not find a second. Having missed a prime opportunity to nod in when totally unmarked at the edge of the six-yard box, the Congo midfielder then saw his rocket from 25 yards smash against the underside of the bar before Trafford produced a brilliant diving save to beat away another shot.
Alas, between the latter two of those efforts, Burnley had found an equaliser, Jaidon Anthony whipping in a pinpoint cross from the left for Flemming to head home.
Having burst out of the blocks in the second period, the visitors went ahead just before the hour when Brownhill nodded in Hannibal Mejbri's knockdown from a couple of yards.
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Then came the two flashpoints that killed off the game for good, Sissoko receiving his marching orders before his side had even kicked off following Brownhill's goal.
As Burnley pushed, Egil Selvik did wonderfully to deny Brownhill a second from point-blank range, before the nine men of Watford somehow produced a stirring effort in the closing stages.
First, CJ Egan-Riley managed a magnificent last-ditch tackle to prevent Vakoun Bayo when played through on goal, and then Trafford dived full stretch to keep Ryan Andrews' long-range strike out. What might Watford have managed with all their players on the pitch?
Burnley could not care less. As their fans joyously sang, they are (almost certainly) going up.
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