Vincent Kompany insisted he would “not be defeated” by Burnley’s hugely damaging 4-1 home loss to Europa League-chasing Newcastle which pushed his side to the brink of relegation.
After Nottingham Forest won 3-1 at Sheffield United, Burnley are five points adrift of safety with only two games left to play after Callum Wilson, Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak punished the Clarets before Dara O’Shea’s late header.
Burnley came into the game on a run of only one defeat in eight, having given themselves real hope of pulling off a great escape but that was all but dismantled in one afternoon. Relegation could be confirmed next weekend against Tottenham before Forest visit on the final day.
The defeat was even more disappointing given Burnley’s recent form but all the familiar hallmarks of their season were on show as a strong start came to nothing and they were too easily picked off at the other end.
“I never (see a result like that coming),” Kompany said. “It wouldn’t be fun to be a manager if you were thinking this was something that could happen.
“I’m not beaten by it or defeated by it personally in terms of attitude. They’re a good side, they’ve got phenomenal attacking players, midfielders who are extremely comfortable on the ball and also extremely aggressive in other situations.
“In these types of games I’m conscious those moments like we had in the first 15 minutes, that’s when you need to seize a game like this. If it doesn’t happen you’re always exposed to a scenario like this.
“But I want to highlight that we never let this game die. The result was done, the score was done, but we kept going, we kept being threatening if we could. That’s all I could ask my players to do.”
Burnley had an early penalty shout when Lorenz Assignon went down under a challenge from Guimaraes.
“It was something that was definitely debatable because of how he gets hold of the shirt,” said Kompany. “But this game wasn’t a one-goal decider, it was three goals’ difference so I think I have to put everything back in place. We played against a better team.”
Newcastle’s win lifted Eddie Howe’s side to sixth place, at least until Manchester United travel to Crystal Palace on Monday, as they seek a Europa League place next season.
“I’ve said from a long time ago we were determined to give our all to finish as high as possible,” Howe said. “With 10 games to go we tried to reset our targets and since the international break we’ve seen a big improvement in our performances and we need to keep that going into the last three games.”
With England manager Gareth Southgate watching on, Wilson scored for a second game running, making his third appearance since returning from pectoral muscle injury which sidelined him for more than two months.
Wilson, 32, will head into the final year of his contract this summer and has been linked with a move away but Howe said he wanted the experienced striker – who he previously worked with at Bournemouth – to stay.
“Write him off at your peril,” he said. “He comes back time and time again, he’s a very motivated player. I’ve managed him for a long time now and mentality-wise, I wouldn’t swap him. He’s a monster.
“Of course I want him at the club next season and I’ll do everything to make that happen. Gareth will have seen him today and will make his own assessments, but he will have done himself no harm.”