Report | Burnley 1-0 Argyle
Argyle lost by a single goal, from the penalty spot, in a Tuesday night trip to Burnley.
The Clarets captain, Josh Brownhill, scored the decisive goal midway into the first half, converting following a foul by Darko Gyabi on Josh Cullen.
In a game of few chances, Argyle hung in there and finished the game strongly but could not find the crucial finish they needed to claim a point.
As the teams were announced, Ibrahim Cissoko, having scored twice when coming off the bench on Friday night against Luton Town, returned to the starting line-up. He was joined by Victor Palsson and Nathanel Ogbeta, making their first league starts since the opening game of the season.
Palsson and Ogbeta played as full-backs either side of Kornel Szucs and Lewis Gibson in a back four in front of goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw. Adam Randell, on his 24th birthday, anchored a midfield with Rami Al Hajj and Gyabi alongside him. Up front, Cissoko played to Ryan Hardie’s left, with Morgan Whittaker on the right.
Adjacent to the Lancashire Moors, sheets of rain cascaded onto the field, but probably served to shine up the playing surface, as it became apparent early on that both teams were looking to get the ball down and play.
In the opening dozen minutes, Burnley had more of the ball, but Argyle looked a little sharper with it, especially on transitions. The ball behind Burnley’s defence was clearly on, too, with Hardie’s running making CJ Egan-Riley look a little nervous.
The game’s first real effort came from Burnley winger Luca Koleosho, 13 minutes in, but he shot wastefully over. Jaidon Anthony, seven minutes later, got his effort on target, but Grimshaw pushed forcefully away.
Argyle’s first chance of significance came shortly afterwards, as a slick exchange involving Cissoko, Al Hajj and Whittaker ended with the latter shooting not too far wide.
Burnley were then awarded a penalty, with Gyabi a little too keen to prevent Cullen from getting on the ball just inside the area, and with referee Bobby Madley close at hand, a spot-kick was given. Brownhill sent Grimshaw the wrong way from 12 yards, and the Clarets led.
Most of the rest of the half saw Burnley looking to add to their tally but being rather wasteful. Their slick play frequently got them into good areas, particularly out wide, but aside from a scare when Lyle Foster got beyond the backline, shooting wide as Grimshaw came out to engage him, Burnley could not extend their lead.
Argyle looked a threat when they managed to get forward, which was perhaps too infrequent, but in Burnley’s haste to extend their advantage, they did leave gaps to exploit. Hardie ran around Egan-Riley on one occasion, being hauled back to earn the Burnley defender a caution. Hardie then set the ball back to Cissoko on the edge of the box, but the Dutchman could not find the gap to get a shot away.
After the break, the patterns largely remained. Both sides, when getting to good positions, failed to capitalise. Whittaker clipped an inviting ball to the far post that no-one got onto, while at the other end, with Burnley’s best moment of the opening quarter-hour of the second period, Anthony drew a low save from Grimshaw.
On 66 minutes, Argyle brought on Bali Mumba and Mustapha Bundu for Ogbeta and Cissoko, freshening up the entire left flank. Livened, Argyle concluded a decent spell of possession with a Whittaker whistler that went not far over the bar.
Bundu then won a free-kick high on the left that Argyle could not create into a chance in two attempts, but there was a tangible feeling of frustration in the ground that the Pilgrims were starting to play more of their football in Burnley territory.
With five minutes to go, three subs combined for perhaps the Greens’ best chance. Not long on the field, Callum Wright was played in by Whittaker, and flicked on to Mumba who, in turn, helped on to Bundu. In a good position, albeit at an angle, Bundu looked to sneak one in the near post but put it wide.
With two minutes to go, second-year apprentice Joe Hatch, who has been in outstanding goalscoring form for the Under-18s, came on to make his Argyle debut, which is a great moment in any player’s career. Congratulations, Joe. Here’s to many more.
On this night, Argyle were unable to conjure the late goal they craved, and now turn their attentions to next Saturday at Home Park, as they meet Burnley’s local rivals, Blackburn Rovers.
Argyle: 31 Daniel Grimshaw, 3 Nathanael Ogbeta (2 Bali Mumba, 66), 6 Kornel Szucs, 7 Ibrahim Cissoko (15 Mustapha Bundu, 66), 9 Ryan Hardie, 10 Morgan Whittaker, 17 Lewis Gibson (capt), 18 Darko Gyabi (38 Joe Hatch, 88), 20 Adam Randell (capt), 28 Rami Al Hajj (1 Callum Wright, 81), 44 Victor Palsson (29 Matty Sorinola, 81). Substitutes: 25 Marko Marosi (gk), 4 Jordan Houghton, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 22 Brendan Galloway.
Booked: None.
Burnley: 1 James Trafford, 5 Maxime Esteve, 6 CJ Egan-Riley, 8 Josh Brownhill (capt), 11 Jaidon Anthony, 12 Bashir Humphreys, 17 Lyle Foster (9 Jay Rodriguez 82), 23 Lucas Pires, 24 Josh Cullen (42 Han-Noah Massengo, 90), 28 Hannibal Mejbri (29 Josh Laurent, 82), 30 Luca Koleosho (7 Jeremy Sarmiento, 72). Substitutes: 32 Vaclav Hldaky (gk), 16 John Egan, 37 Andreas Hountondji, 39 Owen Dodgson, 48 Enock Agyei.
Goals: Brownhill 26
Booked: Egan-Riley 33
Attendance: TBC
Referee: Robert Madley
