Fulham are relegated from the Premier League as Burnley win, and stay up

Of the three clubs to be relegated from the Premier League this season, it is Fulham who will go down with the most regrets. There is a proper team somewhere in this squad, a side of genuine potential that has occasionally surfaced against some of the league’s most formidable opponents.

Victories away to Liverpool, Everton and Leicester City showed what Fulham can do under Scott Parker and what they can be, as a unit, on their day. The problem is that it has not been their day often enough in the last two months, when the momentum they had built has been lost as surely as the winter chill has turned to spring breeze.

In the end, their relegation felt inevitable. Perhaps the expected nature of it will soften some of the pain for Parker and his players, many of whom will no longer be at the club next season. The reality is still not pleasant, though, and neither was this defeat against a Burnley side that was ruthless in its dismissal of Fulham’s challenge.

“At this moment in time I have nothing but sadness,” said Parker, who would not discuss his own future after the final whistle. “It has been looming but it does not hide the disappointment, hurt and sadness. The club needs to make big decisions. We've had a relegation, a promotion and a relegation. The rollercoaster of that and the highs and lows is not something you want.”

By contrast the three points meant safety was officially secured, again, for Sean Dyche’s side. Burnley keep going, doing what they do. And in Chris Wood they have one of the league’s most deadly strikers at the moment. His finish here, a ferocious strike into the top corner, marked his eighth goal in eight games.

“I am pleased for a lot of people at the club,” said Dyche. “And I am pleased for Chris Wood. There was a lot of noise about our strikers not scoring goals but he has shown what he is about.” It felt typical of Fulham’s campaign as a whole that their forward players could do little to dent Burnley’s defence. This has been a season of missed chances, of failed attacks and wasted openings. The energy is always there, but the same cannot be said for the class on the ball.

Before the game Parker had urged his players to be brave, making no attempt to reduce the pressure on his team. Unfortunately it is in these high-pressure encounters that they have tended to wilt this season, losing crucial matches against the likes of Wolves and Aston Villa in recent weeks.

• Stats analysis: why Fulham should stick with Scott Parker

It is to Parker’s credit that there can be no questioning the spirit of the group. Lesser sides would have long since lost their collective motivation, given the scale of the task ahead of them.

But the Premier League is a ruthless competition and there is no amount of heart that can compensate for a lack of quality. In attack, especially, Fulham have lacked the composure they need. It has been evident all season and it was obvious again here, when Parker’s side could not convert the chances they created against Burnley’s mass of bodies.

“There's an effort and endeavour but you need more to survive at this level,” said Parker. “This level is brutal.”

As Fulham pushed in the first half there was always danger at the other end, where Wood serves as Burnley’s target man and Matej Vydra buzzed around him. It was Vydra’s speed that undid the Fulham defence, with Joachim Andersen proving slow to react as the Burnley forward twisted on the byline. The subsequent cutback found its way to Ashley Westwood, who adjusted his feet in time to prod the ball into the empty net. Fulham were reeling now, allowing Vydra to shoot wide before Wood doubled the lead from the edge of the box.

Wood’s goal was his 50th for Burnley, 18 more than any other player has scored for the club since he joined in 2017. The clinical nature of the finish also underlined the difference between the two sides: it was his 12th goal of the campaign, while Fulham’s top scorer, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, has only scored seven.

This lack of incision has been Parker’s biggest problem and it would have required an uncharacteristically flowing second half performance for them to come back. At least they went for it, throwing Josh Maja into the attack alongside Aleksandar Mitrovic, who headed wide before Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa struck the crossbar.

As is so often the case with Fulham, there was plenty of effort. But, once again, there was little to show from it. “We cracked under the pressure a little bit,” said Mitrovic. “We tried. We fought. We worked hard. But we needed more quality on the ball.”

---

09:25 PM

Somehow fitting that the camera has cut out

as Scott talks. We are just listening to his words as we look at picture of the Monday Night Football studio. Oh God it's all a bit forlorn.

Ah there he is.

"Players have given me everything: endeavour, desire, effort. We have fallen short of quality at times. Sometimes you need more than effort.

"I have been committed since I came here. What is key for me is we sit down, we analyse, we learn.

"We need to break the cycle for this football club. I don't want to come into the League for a season and then out. We want to get in and move forward."

Emotional stuff. Seems like such a good guy. Wish him well.

Dyche: "this has been my hardest season as a manager. Off the pitch, with the sale of the club. A long-winded sale. Scott has had his challenges this season, he is learning as we all are. I wish him well."

---

09:22 PM

Scott Parker

"Bitterly disappointed, hurt, gutted. It has been looming over us for some time. We have flirted with it for a long time. No words at this time. We always knew it would be a challenge but it is disappointing.

"The game sums us up. Between both boxes we have looked a very good side and had our moments. But... defensively, two poor goals. In those final clinical moments, we have fallen short, you need those final details, the weight of the pass, the clinicalness of the pass. In those moments we have fallen short at this level and there is no denying that. And that is why we are relegated.

"And I am not just talking about this team, I mean the club. That's relegation, promotion, relegation. The rollercoaster. We need to work out what we need to do to keep a level about us."

---

09:10 PM

Aleks Mitrovic

"We failed today and we failed this season. It is hard to find the words. But you always finish where you deserve to be: football is an honest game. And we did not deserve to stay up. We feel sad for the fans."

---

09:08 PM

No drama

3+ - Fulham’s defeat means all three/four teams have been relegated with as many as three games remaining for the first time in Premier League history. Confirmation.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 10, 2021

---

09:06 PM

Chris Wood jokes

"Sean Dyche doesn't coach us he just shouts at us"

---

08:54 PM

Full time: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

That's it. Fulham gave it a good go in the second half, but it was already realistically over by then. Nothing about their season, personnel or pedigree suggested that they were going to score three, and indeed they scored none. Well done to Burnley, who will take their place in the Premier League next season. For Fulham, the rebuilding begins.

I'll take in the manager and player quotes below, and put the match report above. Hard lines to the Cottagers, well done Sean Dyche and his boys.

---

08:51 PM

90 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Come on ref, put them out of their misery. This is done.

---

08:49 PM

87 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Seen Lily Allen and dad Keith at Fulham more than once. Sad times for them.

---

08:47 PM

85 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Couple of corners from Fulham. As Burnley break from one, Lemina stops said counter with a foul.

---

08:41 PM

80 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Bill Leslie relays the information that Stockley Park didn't call for Areola to be sent off because there was a defender back, so not the last man. Er, not really: Lemina collided with his own keeper and they were both decked.

---

08:38 PM

76 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Cavaleiro crosses and Ruben Loftus-Cheek heads it.. so wide. It was a poor header. His star has waned a bit, young RLC, hasn't it? 25 now. Wonder how many he'll add to the ten England caps.

---

08:32 PM

72 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Ah, here is a chance for Burnley though. Jay Rodriguez is clear, hits a crisp shot straight at the keeper. Rodriguez not been on long - he replaced Vydra.

---

08:31 PM

72 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Burnley have been utterly supine since the half. 22% of the ball, allowing Fulham 8 shots. Well, they're not 17th because they are a brilliant side, are they?

---

08:29 PM

70 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Ah, poor old Fulham. Coulda had a pen. And now they have hit the bar. Lookman plays it inside to Anguissa, who produces a cracking shot that smashes into the crossbar and goes safe. When you're hot you're hot, and when you're about to be relegated, you're about to be relegated.

---

08:25 PM

65 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

And yet more VAR work. The ball is pumped forward, Vydra is onto it... Lemina and Areola in a mix-up. The Fulham keeper comes out, handles the ball a mile outside the area, bodychecking Vydra in the process. Denying a goalscoring chance? Deliberate foul play? Being a berk? All good reasons for a red but none is given. Dyche is going crackers on the sideline and I have to say I agree.

---

08:22 PM

64 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

VAR in the game again! Again a Fulham player is in the Bolton area. But again, no penalty. Taylor chopped down Cavaleiro from behind, that looks a very good shout for a penalty to me - but not given, and no VAR interjection.

---

08:20 PM

63 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

VAR in the game. Mitrovic plays it through to Lookman, who stumbles near Tarkowski in the box. He starts to go down looking for it, probably, but it was actually brilliant from Tarkowski who pulled out of the tackle just in time. No pen.

---

08:19 PM

60 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Fulham are the side asking most of the questions, but the questions are of the "what is the capital of France?" and "which English King has six wives?" level of difficulty. Burnley's brave men and true at the back are not exactly fretting.

---

08:16 PM

58 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Bobby D-Reid gallops down the right, delivers an excellent cross. Mitrovic meets it, and puts it into the side netting.

---

08:15 PM

56 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Pope with a needless punch from a corner. Surely he can catch that? Soon another corner for Fulham. Mitrovic with a header, but straight at the keeper. Pope does indeed catch that one.

---

08:13 PM

55 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Fulham having most of the ball, and having a go.

---

08:12 PM

53 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Sub for FFC - Tete off and Maja on. Defender off for a forward. Looks like Scott Parker is switching to a back three.

---

08:11 PM

51 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Tarkowski through the back of De Cordova-Reid, no booking, which is a surprise for that. The freekick leads to a corner for the hosts but it doesn't really lead to much.

Not a lot to write home about so far in the second half.

---

08:09 PM

49 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Lemina with a grim combo foul on Lowton. The body check to the breadbasket winds him, the boot on the instep hobbles him. Ouch and indeed ouch.

He seems to be okay after a bit.

---

08:05 PM

46 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

The beautiful game there as Fulham's keeper belts it down field, Mitrovic heads it to a Burnley defender, who whacks it out on the volley for a throw.

---

08:03 PM

The players are out on the pitch

Any changes? No.

---

07:50 PM

Half time: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Can't see any way back for the hosts here. Scott Parker, if you've got a Henry V team talk in you, now would be a good time...

---

07:49 PM

45 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 2

Oh and it's within a foot of being goodnight Irene. Vydra gets it, spins, and lets rip - a foot over. He looks full of confidence, as do most of the Burnley side. Fulham...do not look full of confidence.

---

07:48 PM

GOAL! Fulham 0 Burnley 2 (Wood 44)

Oh that's it! Burnley just allowed far too much space and time there. A ball hit forward, Mee nods it down, Brownhill with a cute little prompting pass, and then Chris Wood with a meaty thwack of a shot that gives the keeper no chance.

---

07:46 PM

43 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 1

No goalmouth action in the last couple of minutes. Talking of the second tier, that's where this Fulham are headed.

---

07:43 PM

41 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 1

Anguissa is into the book. He caught Cork.

Vydra shoots wide. But he was lively indeed to get in the position in the first place. He is not without his attributes, that boy. Albeit that his best work has come in the second tier, for Watford.

---

07:41 PM

38 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 1

The last 26 times in the PL that Fulham conceded first, they lost... 25 of them. Drew one. Well, time to make some new memories, boys.

---

07:39 PM

GOAL! Fulham 0 Burnley 1 (Westwood)

Hammer blow for the Cottagers. Westwood got a bang on the head a moment ago but was obviously well enough to carry on. A long ball, good work from Vydra, he holds it up and gets to the byline and Westwood has gamely run on and poked it home. Ah well played Ashley Westwood, the reward for hard work.

---

07:36 PM

33 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

And from the resultant corner, Wood is close again! Excellent save from the Fulham keeper.

---

07:36 PM

32 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

This is a nice move from Burnley. Taylor (?) gets well down the left, crosses and Chris Wood puts the diving nut on it. It crashes into Tosin and totally wrong foots the keeper. Wide. Would have been a sickener.

---

07:33 PM

30 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Enjoyable enough game, such as it is. Neither keeper has had much of a chance to show his chops.

---

07:32 PM

28 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Lookman cuts in and fires at goal. Lowton blocks it.

---

07:31 PM

26 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Mitrovic seemingly hell-bent on being the villain of the piece. Ball into the box, and he's nudged Tarkowski. Ref doesn't think too much of it.

---

07:25 PM

21 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Lookman looking the man most likely. Good run and a shot that leads to a corner.

Matej Vydra with a cross, Chris Wood slots it away! But the ball had gone out for a throw in the build up, and the goal is chalked off.

---

07:25 PM

19 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Danger here for Fulham. Deep, threatening cross. Wood up well to head that back across. Vydra is about to apply the finish but Tosin does well.

---

07:19 PM

15 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Burnley have a freekick in their own half. Mitrovic rugby tackles Tarkowski 30 yards from the Fulham goal right in front of the ref. Is Mitrovic... really thick? Is that why they leave him out of the team?

So Burnley get another freekick, 30 yards out, and play it in... Ben Mee! Gets the head on it but easy for the keeper.

---

07:15 PM

12 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Burnley have a corner. Half cleared to Lowton, who tries a spectacular effort but without turning on the radar.

---

07:14 PM

10 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Decent enough start from Fulham, if they are nervous they don't seem it. They try to lump it into the area, though. If there's one thing Bolton's central defence can do (and there are in fact lots) then it's head those away.

Good ball in though here and Lookman is nearly there.

---

07:11 PM

7 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Don Goodman says that "home form is the bedrock of any survival quest" which is for some reason making me think of Jules in Pulp Fiction saying "Hamburgers! The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast." Perhaps it is because I mentioned 1994 and university earlier. The college wall poster staple. Indeed, the cornerstone of any dorm room.

---

07:08 PM

7 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Zambo Anguissa not closed down, allowed to run around outside the box and shoot. Westwood the man who failed to get to the man.

---

07:05 PM

4 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Lookman bursts forward and plays it to Cavaleiro. That is one of the worst touches I have ever seen a Premier League player take. He's absolutely clanged that! Lucky for him, he is offside, because that was a real goal-shooting opportunity.

---

07:01 PM

1 mins: Fulham 0 Burnley 0

Craven Cottage looks absolutely gorgeous. The players take the knee. And it is the visitors who kick off.

Burnley are at it right away and Brownhill hits a hard low cross that Fulham clear with more than a hint of panic in the defensive ranks.

---

06:59 PM

Team news again

Aleksandar Mitrovic is recalled to the Fulham starting line-up for the crunch clash with Burnley in one of two changes made by Scott Parker from the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.

The Serbian forward replaces Josh Maja, while Ola Aina drops to the bench in favour of Kenny Tete.

Sean Dyche makes no changes to the Burnley side which lost 2-1 at home to West Ham last Monday.

Fulham: Areola, Tete, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Zambo, Lemina, Ivan Cavaleiro, Reid, Lookman, Mitrovic. Subs: Hector, Rodak, Ream, Loftus-Cheek, Bryan, Onomah, Maja, Aina, Carvalho.

Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Brownhill, Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Vydra, Wood. Subs: Gudmundsson, Barnes, Peacock-Farrell, Stephens, Rodriguez, Pieters, Norris, Bardsley, Dunne.

Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire)

---

06:56 PM

Lovely evening

down by the river. That stand is coming on well.

---

06:52 PM

What is the difference between these sides?

Asks Dave Jones - ie why is one, probably, going to stay up and one, most likely, going down.

Gary Neville answers instantly: "Know how" and Jamie Carragher agrees: "Sean Dyche."

The experts say that the players, even when they were in a bad run, BELIEVE that the manager knows how to keep the team in the League. I guess Scott P is not quite at that level yet. Dyche is clearly a figure that these lads rally around.

---

06:44 PM

Scott Parker

"This sort of situation brings the best out of me and I have communicated that to the players. For sure there is one ingredient we will bring, and that is fight. You can do everything but only at the end of 90 minutes can you gauge how the players respond. You can lose, sure, but it is the way you go about it."

---

06:39 PM

Good chat from Carragher and Neville on MNF

about how the Premier League has a dip, around the start of the last decade, where they didn't have the top managers, they didn't have the best players in the world, and they had all the TV money but clubs abroad new it and held their feet to the fire in any deal.

Now, they argue, the big clubs here have the absolute cream of managers, there are genuine world XI players in the league, and they are seriously troubling the late stages of the CL.

---

06:25 PM

I am a big fan

of Monday Night Football. See here The excellence of Monday Night Football's Dave Jones and Monday Night Football's engaging and insightful post-match interviews are becoming must-watch TV

That being said, I can see why fans of the less shiny clubs get the hump when their teams get a rare run out on it. Not heard a dicky bird about either of the two teams in action tonight - it's all Edinson Cavani and Chelsea's defensive pair and so on and so forth. Fair enough, the public gets what they public wants but still.

---

06:15 PM

Scott Parker

More premium knitwear for Scott this evening. I'll get you a picture stat.

---

06:07 PM

Sean Dyche

"I think performance levels have been decent. We have to focus on our business. Our players know Fulham can go down tonight, of course. We have done a lot of work since the start of the season. From game seven, we have got a pretty decent points return. I like my four strikers, Woody has been playing really well and looks a real threat."

---

06:05 PM

Teams

Fulham: Areola, Tete, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Zambo, Lemina, Ivan Cavaleiro, Reid, Lookman, Mitrovic. Subs: Hector, Rodak, Ream, Loftus-Cheek, Bryan, Onomah, Maja, Aina, Carvalho.

Burnley: Pope, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Brownhill, Westwood, Cork, McNeil, Vydra, Wood. Subs: Gudmundsson, Barnes, Peacock-Farrell, Stephens, Rodriguez, Pieters, Norris, Bardsley, Dunne.

Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire)

---

06:05 PM

Fulham

what a long strange trip it has been. When I went up to university, in 1994, the very first person I met was a guy called Robin, a Fulham fan. They were in the fourth tier then and, if memory serves, the next season they hit the bottom or second bottom of the entire football league. Either 92nd or 91st, although they just about stayed up.

Anyway, I went many times over the years since, often with Robin, sometimes with other people. I went with Robin and my wife to watch them play Northampton Town in the League Cup, the first football match my wife (she is from Foreign) had been to. I was there on the mad day Michael Jackson turned up. I went with my friend Mags and he stood behind the goal in the away end, reading the Observer books section and only looking up from it to berate Brian Horton, for some reason.

We used to go and watch the P o r n Star Dirk Lehmann there, who then went on to play for Hibs. Steve Davis playing in every tier on their climb. There was that nice Tigana team. The Keggy Keegle era. Runs into Europe. Stability and more in the Premier League. Last time I was near Craven Cottage we were commemorating a bench on the Thames path there, for Robin, who died in his early 40s of cancer. I always, and always will, look out for their results.

---

05:17 PM

Fulham welcome Burnley

The laws of sports hackery oblige me to dub this "a relegation six-pointer" but I'm not so sure. Fulham are nine points behind Burnley with a slightly inferior goal difference. Both sides have played 34. If Fulham win, they'll still be six points worse off with three to play. I guess stranger things have happened but given that Fulham have only won five games all season, it'll be a proper Houdini job from here. Still, there seems to be a decent energy around the Craven Cottage side right now

Here's a preview.

Sean Dyche insists Burnley are in a good position to fend off fresh bids for £50 million-rated James Tarkowski after revealing how they were initially unable to afford to pay just £300,000 for the England defender.

Burnley are braced for another summer of strong interest in the coveted 28-year-old, who is a target for Leicester City and West Ham United. The Champions League hopefuls have each failed with bids of £30 million as Burnley fight to hold on to their prize asset, who slipped through the net seven years ago due to financial constraints at Turf Moor.

The former Blackburn youth centre-back’s impressive partnership with captain Ben Mee has played a big part in helping Dyche’s side to the verge of securing a sixth consecutive season of Premier League football on one of the top flight’s tightest budgets.

Manchester-born Tarkowski’s Turf Moor career could have started two years earlier than his eventual £4 million arrival from Brentford in 2016, and Dyche revealed: “I tried to get James from Oldham a few years back, but the board wouldn’t give me the £300,000 it would have taken. The lad wanted to come but the board said they had to pay for a bag of chips instead so he ended up at Brentford.

“Joking apart, when I arrived we were spending very little, if anything. It sounds crazy now but we lost out on James for 300 grand. It shows how radically it has changed financially because at that stage it was deemed too much. Eventually we got a chance to get him in with a bit more money.

“To be fair to the lad, he had to wait for his opportunity but he was so diligent to his profession and we made sure we looked after him with his contract. Then when the chance came, he took it. We had a similar scenario a bit later with Andre Gray who we ended up paying more for despite having gone in earlier, but James is the more obvious one.”

Dyche admits every player has their price and the likes of Tarkowski and Manchester City academy product Mee could well eventually move on, but only for the right fee. He feels the club are in a stronger position financially since the £170 million takeover by American investment group ALK Capital.

“There’s a bit more strength financially with the new owners, but there’s a reality to this club and when someone hits that number, whatever is deemed appropriate, then it’s likely a player will go,” he said.

“James and Ben have both matured into very good players. The difference is that even before the new owners came in, we were stronger in that we didn’t have to sell. There was a time when we did need to take the money and while we can’t always keep players forever, we are in a position to fend off bids that are not good enough.”

Burnley took just two points from their first seven games, but results have improved in line with a clearing treatment room, meaning victory at Fulham tonight will banish any lingering relegation doubts while condemning the hosts to the drop.

Dyche added: “We’re in a league where the superpowers keep on spending, and even clubs who haven’t always been at the top are also investing heavily. We fell behind a bit with that. I suggested three years ago that we needed a heavier period of investment but the club didn’t wish to do that at the time so we have developed a team who have bought into what we’re trying to do.”

Meanwhile, Scott Parker claims he is not “mad or deluded in any way” for insisting his belief in Fulham’s ability to remain in the top flight has not waned. His side are nine points from safety with only 12 points available from the remaining four matches of the season. “I understand the predicament we’re in and I understand how difficult that challenge is, but it’s still there,” he said.