Fleetwood Town stood stern for the majority of their Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round clash against Burnley on Wednesday evening, but it all ended in heartbreak after a 90th minute goal.
On a massive night for Fleetwood Town, Scott Brown’s side began the occasion on the defensive side with the hosts Burnley having some nice spells of possession on the ball early on. Anass Zaroury was becoming a threat early on, but he was guarded by the capable hands of Shaun Rooney.
The Town fans were in fine voice from the off and that was matched by the solid defence shown by Brown’s men in the opening ten minutes of the game. Burnley-born Harvey Macadam led the line alongside Cian Hayes, and both were chasing down the Burnley back line, making their presence known early.
Burnley’s Lyle Foster had a great opportunity in the 17th minute when the ball fell to him off the back of Harrison Holgate, but his effort didn’t trouble Jay Lynch in the Cods goal. The Clarets could have been two to the good twenty minutes but as well as the effort from Foster, a half chance from Josh Brownhill also went wide.
Former Cod Charlie Taylor got in on the action 23 minutes in, but his effort flashed wide of the target. Fleetwood were doing a good job of containing Vincent Kompany’s Clarets midway through the first half. Despite receiving a booking, Danny Andrew was rallying the troops at the back and was defending superbly.
Zaroury continued the Burnley onslaught of chances with a great effort, but Lynch saved well, and nothing came from the resulting corner. Fleetwood didn’t have too much of the ball in the first 45 minutes, but the team stayed compact and looked to give Burnley a game.
At the end of the half though, the referee sent Hayes off for a challenge on Josh Cullen which saw an alleged high foot from Fleetwood’s number 21.
Burnley began the second half controlling the ball and making Fleetwood work for possession. It was clear who the hosts turned to in chance creation. Zaroury had four attempts on goal by the 56th minute and Burnley have had over 70% possession throughout proceedings were looking for an opening, but Town stood firm and were giving a good account of themselves.
Some heroic defending was needed from Harrison Holgate with just over twenty minutes remaining, as the ball landed on the head of Taylor, whose header was cleared off the line superbly well by Holgate.
With the introduction of Carlos Mendes Gomes to the game, Town had that little bit of pace up front that was missing after Hayes’ red card.
The chances from the home side kept coming and Fleetwood continued to deny the Championship league leaders. After some more fantastic goalkeeping by Lynch, saving two efforts from range, the ball finds its way back into the box and falls to the feet of Connor Roberts who cleverly found the net.
A tough pill to swallow given the excellent defending Town showed all game, but the pressure from Burnley showed in the end.
Clarets XI: Peacock-Farrell (GK), Beyer (Roberts 61’), Al-Dakhil, Vitinho, Taylor, Cullen, Brownhill (C) (Gudmundsson 61’), Twine, Foster (Dervisoglu 81’), Obafemi (Tella 61’), Zaroury (Churlinov 73’).
Unused subs: Muric (GK), Barnes, Bastien, Sassi.
Cods XI: Lynch (GK), Vela (C), Holgate, Andrew (Wiredu 88’), Warrington, Robertson (Batty 65’), Macadam (Mendes Gomes 65’), Hayes, Nsiala, Earl, Rooney.
Unused subs: Cragg (GK), D. Johnson, Patterson, W. Johnson, McMillan, Lane.