Burnley resurfaced out of the bottom three after Vydra struck winner against Wolves

Two league wins in the first six months of the season and now two in a matter of four days. There’s timing your career to perfection, and then there’s what Burnley are doing right now. Mike Jackson had only won consecutive games as manager before this week, coming up against Liverpool Under-21s and Scunthorpe United when he was in charge of Tranmere Rovers two years ago. You didn’t need the roar that accompanied the Matej Vydra winner here to tell you how this perhaps meant a bit more.

He may no longer preside over this parish, but the spirit of Sean Dyche still lingers on in much of what Burnley does well. In many ways this win, the third in a row at home, a feat they have not achieved in five years, had all the hallmarks of Dyche and the characteristics he instilled in this club during his time in charge. Every last-minute challenge and desperate clearance as Burnley held on in the dying moments was greeted by a roar from the stands that was only matched by the full-time home players here.

You didn’t need to tell anyone what this result means. For 175 days Burnley have been stuck inside the relegation zone and for many of those days even the most optimistic fan would have been resigned to staying there. But in a well-crafted move amid a fairly low-quality affair here, Wout Weghorst’s clever run behind the Wolves defense allowed him to pass the ball inside to Vydra and send Turf Moor into ecstasy.

It’s still technically out of Burnley’s hands, of course, but they now have the one thing Leeds and Everton don’t: momentum. Don’t underestimate how important it can be when most of your season has been spent craving purple spots like these. Write them down at your own risk now.

That’s now two wins in four days and seven points in the three games since Dyche was fired and Jackson was put in interim charge. Any notion of a quick appointment to replace Dyche was almost certainly delayed until the summer: if Jackson doesn’t make the decision himself for Burnley’s board, he should complete the job and guide them through a seventh successive season in the Premier League, courtesy. of the most remarkable of the great escapes.

Here, Vydra’s goal was enough to see off a rather timid effort from a Wolves team that can look back on this afternoon as a real missed opportunity. When West Ham slipped to defeat Chelsea elsewhere on Sunday, this was a moment to seize for Bruno Lage’s side in their quest for European football next year. In truth, they offered too little to make a convincing case for being in that race here on a frustrating and disappointing afternoon for the visitors.

Jackson lined up Burnley in their traditional 4-4-2 formation with Lage opting for a front three of Hwang Hee-chan, Raúl Jiménez and Fabio Silva. In a first half of clear and limited moments, the best came when Jonny’s run down the left forced a clever save from Nick Pope into the Burnley goal. At the other extreme, Dwight McNeil’s ruse inside the box produced an effort that was managed by José Sá.

But with the huge reward of victory for both teams, it seemed inevitable that the pace would pick up a bit as the second half began. There was certainly more intent and effort from Burnley and Wolves after the restart, and it was the hosts who first threatened when a quick ball from behind for Vydra saw him force Sá to save. The ball bounced off Conor Coady and into the Wolves net, but the flag was properly raised after Vydra slid offside in the setup.

However, Vydra would not refuse when the game entered the fourth quarter. Weghorst’s clever running back was spotted, and he had the eye to drive the ball through the goal for Vydra to score just his second goal of the season. Whatever happens between now and the end of this exciting campaign, you suspect he won’t score a bigger one. The onus now fell on Wolves to respond, but as poor as they were in the final third, Burnley were just as tenacious.

There was no shortage of crucial last moments of bravery from the hosts. Connor Roberts dove in front of Hwang as he ran towards the goal to deny the advance before the South Korean fired directly at Pope. In truth, it was about Burnley, who struggled and struggled with the kind of effort that has been so often lacking this season. As we enter the final stages of this exciting race to avoid relegation, it would be brave to bet against them now.