Sheffield United 1 Burnley 4: Blades could be relegated next weekend after dismal thumping at Bramall Lane
The Great Escape is on.
Not for whipping boys Sheffield United, who reminded everyone once again why they are a Premier League outfit in name only.
But against all the odds, buoyant Burnley are making one hell of a fist of it.
Eleven points off safety at the beginning of March, the Opta boffs gave them a 1.5 per cent chance of staying up last weekend.
Yet this seismic win moved Vincent Kompany’s Clarets to within three points of safety and the most unlikely of survivals.
And with Everton hosting Nottingham Forest tomorrow, they will end the weekend no more than four points off 17th with four games remaining.
Yes, this was an absolute tonking – yet it was only possible thanks to under fire keeper Arijanet Muric.
The Kosovan looked to have hammered the final nail in Burnley’s coffin last week when, leading 1-0 against Brighton, he let the simplest of back passes through his legs.
That came after another howler the game before versus Everton, but Kompany stuck with his man and was rewarded with a stunning performance.
A string of brilliant saves kept them in it early on before goals from Jacob Bruun Larsen, Lorenz Assignon, Lyle Foster and Johann Berg Gudmondsson fired them to a priceless three points.
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It completed the double over the embarrassing Blades with a combined score of 9-1.
And with Burnley getting by Brentford this was a huge seven-goal swing, which could prove huge if it comes down to goal difference.
They started the day five points off 17th-placed Forest, four above the basement Blades.
Nobody was expecting a classic given the two sides had a woeful seven wins between them from 67 games.
But this was far from boring, with United well on top early on and left ruing a host of missed chances.
James McAtee whipped in a beauty from the right for the first, only for Muric to deny Oli McBurnie from six yards.
Ben Brereton Diaz was next up after a neat one-two yet the Kosovan was up to it again with another huge stop before tipping McBurnie’s piledriver over.
Burnley were clinging on but, as has happened so often this season, the hosts crumbled with two goals conceded in two minutes.
Bruun Larsen got the first but it was all down to Wilson Odobert – and a huge slice of fortune.
Odobert’s driving run through the heart of midfield was brilliant but the shot was not, though it deflected kindly to Bruun Larsen to his left.
The Dane’s first-time effort was hardly much better yet a deflection off Jayden Bogle proved decisive, catching Ivo Grbic off guard as it scrambled home.
Assignon’s second moments later was more down to horrendous defending than luck.
Brereton Diaz and Ben Osborn should hang their heads in shame as they allowed the Frenchman to breeze past them on the right edge of the box before he fired through Auston Trusty’s legs and in.
Chris Wilder’s side were booed off at the break though they came out fighting at the start of the second.
McAtee must have thought he’d scored with a curler towards the top corner but that man Muric was on hand with a stunning diving stop.
Yet he could do nothing moments later when Hamer’s beauty put the Blades back in it after 52 minutes.
McAtee skipped past Charlie Taylor and fed Hamer on the left, with the midfielder cutting inside to put Assignon on his backside before bending a peach into the far corner.
A brilliant shot-stopper, Muric then reminded everyone again how dodgy he is with his feet to almost gift the south Yorkshiremen an equaliser.
An abysmal pass out went straight to Brereton Diaz, but he made up with a big save down to his right to deny the forward.
And two minutes later, thanks to some more shocking defending, Burnley had their third to wrap up a potentially seismic win.
On the charge down the right, Assignon was allowed to skip inside unchallenged and pick out the unmarked Foster, who rolled home from 11 yards.
The fed up locals were now sarcastically cheering keeper Grbic for making simple saves and cheering when Vini Souza was subbed.
And the mass exodus began 20 minutes from time when sub Gudmondsson made it 4-1 seconds after coming on with a low curler from the edge of the box.
Their 30th goal shipped in their last seven home games, this was a new level of shame for Sheffield United.
Just five more games and they will be back where they belong in the second tier.
Yet for Burnley, hope springs eternal once again.
