If there were ever fears of Burnley’s clash with Tottenham being an example of “after the Lord Mayor’s show” for the hosts, at least, their leader Ben Mee ensured the procession continued. The Burnley captain won the game by flinging himself around to stop Spurs scoring before heading the winning goal to earn his side a second successive victory, boosting their survival hopes.
The swirling wind and rain implied perfect conditions for Burnley to build on their win at Brighton but it was Spurs who started brightest, buoyed by defeating the Premier League leaders, Manchester City.
Within a minute of the whistle Harry Kane found himself in space on the right-hand side of the area, giving him the time and room to send in a dangerous, low cross. It deflected off the outside of James Tarkowski’s boot into the side‑netting, though many inside the ground feared it had gone in.
There was a pace and energy rarely seen from Burnley this season. Spurs’ defence did not enjoy being put under pressure, giving away a needless corner after trying to pass it around in their own area, while Ben Davies did not welcome the physicality of cult-hero-in-the-making Wout Weghorst, much to the crowd’s enjoyment. It was a night made for longer studs as the weather caused the ball to hold up in gusts and players to slip repeatedly.
Burnley enjoyed great spells of possession without the ability to find a way through the Spurs midfield block, forcing the home side to waste the ball with direct passes aimed at Weghorst which never came to anything.
Not that Spurs fared much better as they struggled to find any space behind the trademark Burnley back four, who diligently went about their business as the English centre‑back pairing of Tarkowski and Mee kept the England captain Kane quiet in front of Gareth Southgate.
That changed quickly after the break as Mee scythed down a marauding Son Heung-min on the right wing. Son peeled himself off the turf to swing in a free‑kick for Kane to attack with vigour, only for the striker to see his header cannon off the crossbar inches above Nick Pope’s outstretched hand.
It was that moment which created urgency within the Tottenham side after a slow first half. Son looked more eager to run at Burnley’s defenders, forcing them to backtrack at speed on the squelching surface.
There was more space to exploit for Tottenham and almost two perfect opportunities to open the scoring, only for Erik Pieters and Mee to intervene at the last second.
Pope finally had to make a save in the 64th minute as the ball crisscrossed the box until Emerson Royal laid it off to Davies to have a prod at goal. However the goalkeeper threw out a left fist to divert the shot wide.
Hugo Lloris, too, suffered a rude awakening after a long night of keeping the rain out of his eyes, as Jay Rodriguez finally received the service he demands but his powerful downward header from a perfect Dwight McNeil cross was palmed to safety by the Spurs goalkeeper. He was not able to do anything minutes later, however, as Mee held off the challenge of Cristian Romero to head a deep free-kick back across goal to give Burnley the lead.
Before scoring, Mee had dived across his own goal to head away a Dejan Kulusevski shot targeting the bottom corner. The captain is the beating heart of the club after more than 10 years at Turf Moor, a man on a mission to ensure he does not end his anniversary season as a Championship player, as shown by his chest-thumping celebrations as he moved Burnley to within two points of 17th.
Mee should have doubled the lead, this time from a corner as he poked a shot at goal, before receiving the ball back to volley across the area to a waiting Rodriguez. He lifted the ball over the bar from six yards out. But it did not matter as Burnley held on for their third win of the season to make the soaking night worth it for the home fans.
“I have great trust and belief in the players,” Sean Dyche said. “They deserve a massive amount of credit, they have taken ownership of the season. It is not a done season, there is a lot of work to be done.”
