Last-gasp Barnes crushes Palace fightback

Ashley Barnes struck a 94th-minute winner as Burnley withstood a stirring second-half fightback by Crystal Palace to claim a breathless 3-2 victory on Saturday.
Sam Vokes’s second-minute strike and a long-range Johann Berg Gudmundsson effort put Sean Dyche’s Burnley two goals to the good at half-time.
Substitute Connor Wickham and Christian Benteke, with an 81st-minute penalty, hauled Palace level, only for Barnes to pop up and condemn Alan Pardew’s men to a fourth successive Premier League defeat.
Burnley, who are unbeaten in three games, leapt up to ninth place, while Palace fell two places to 15th, although they remain four points clear of the relegation zone.
Palace’s hopes of ending a run of 15 league games without a clean sheet evaporated within 78 seconds of kick-off at Turf Moor.
After picking out Gudmundsson on the Burnley left, Matt Lowton drove into the area to meet the Iceland winger’s cut-back with a low shot.
Scott Dann got back to block the Burnley full-back’s shot, but succeeded only in clearing the ball against the back of goalkeeper Steve Mandanda’s head, gifting Vokes a tap-in.
With interim England manager Gareth Southgate in attendance, Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton was looking to build on his bravura performance in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Manchester United, when he made 11 saves.
He saved from Jason Puncheon and Wilfried Zaha before misfortune misfell his opposite number once again in the 14th minute.
Teed up by Vokes, Gudmundsson took aim from 25 yards with a shot that Mandanda allowed to squirm beneath him.
Burnley resumed their assault on the visitors’ goal in the second half, Mandanda producing a double-save to thwart Vokes.
Pardew turned to the bench shortly before the hour, with Wickham and Zeki Fryers coming on, and the changes yielded immediate dividends as Wickham swept home Zaha’s right-wing cross.
With Zaha leading the charge, Palace penned Burnley back and drew level when Benteke sent Heaton the wrong way from the penalty spot after Lowton handled Andros Townsend’s cross.
But it was Burnley who netted the winner as Barnes freed Gudmundsson on the right before driving into the box to convert his team-mate’s cross.
There was still time for one last Palace chance, but Townsend’s effort struck the post to deny the London club an improbable point.