Match Report

Report | Argyle 0-5 Burnley

Burnley inflicted a heavy defeat on Argyle at Home Park, scoring five unanswered goals in the opening 45 minutes of a dispiriting encounter.  

Zian Flemming got the scoring under way with a pair of goals to put the Clarets into a strong position, before Josh Laurent matched his team-mate with a double of his own.  

Just before the break, Josh Cullen added a fifth to round off a victory which had already been long assured for the visitors.   

There was one change for Argyle ahead of the game, with Nathanael Ogbeta’s inclusion in the starting line-up facilitating a switch to a 3-4-3 formation.  

Burnley were on top from the outset, and it was no surprise when they took the lead on 11 minutes. Victor Palsson’s attempted clearance fell to Josh Brownhill, and the Burnley captain fizzed in a quick sidewinder of a cross from the right wing, which Flemming turned in smartly.  

Laurent had a pair of efforts saved by Daniel Grimshaw just before the half-hour mark – the first straightforward, the second a sound stop – before Flemming scored his, and Burnley’s second.  

From a quickly-taken free-kick, Jaidon Anthony was able to get onto the end of it, hook back into the area, where Flemming had a simple task of clipping in.  

Three minutes later, it was three, with Laurent beating Grimshaw at his third attempt. A cutback into a good area was largely speculative, but Laurent anticipated it better than anyone else, and fired home with a superb strike.  

Half-time seemed to be dawning when Laurent got his second, this time nodding in from basically on the goal-line, but there was still time for another before the interval whistle blew.  

Adam Randell’s pass back to Grimshaw was on the soft side and, although the Argyle goalkeeper got there first, all that happened was the ball fell to Cullen, and he stroked home. Burnley looked almost embarrassed with the simplicity of it all.   

Argyle made three half-time changes, bringing on Callum Wright, Matty Sorinola and Mustapha Bundu.  

There was a little more attacking zest in the beginnings of the second half from Argyle – there could hardly have been less – with Bundu striking the side-netting early on, and Randell’s free-kick from wide, aimed at the far post and begging to be diverted goalwards, was pushed away.  

Frankly, it is almost a case of reaching for things to write about at this stage. Burnley had essentially declared at half-time, and spent the second half taking off their best players, and bringing on scarily good replacements, but they were content with their lot.  

The only other aspect to warrant a mention is probably the Babcock Devonport End and their stoic humour.  

“We want six!” exclaimed the elated travelling Burnley fans.  

“We want one!” replied their weary counterparts in green and white at the other end of the field.  

Neither got their wish. One suspects that one particular group of supporters was more bothered about that than the other.  

Argyle: 31 Daniel Grimshaw, 2 Bali Mumba, 3 Nathanael Ogbeta (29 Matty Sorinola, half-time), 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 9 Ryan Hardie (15 Mustapha Bundu, half-time) 17 Tymoteusz Puchacz, 18 Darko Gyabi, 20 Adam Randell (capt, 4 Jordan Houghton, 70), 28 Rami Al Hajj (11 Callum Wright, half-time), 30 Michael Baidoo (39 Tegan Finn, 82), 44 Victor Palsson. Substitutes: 33 Zak Baker (gk), 7 Ibrahim Cissoko, 34 Caleb Roberts, 35 Freddie Issaka.  

Booked: Sorinola 88 

Burnley: 1 James Trafford, 5 Maxime Esteve, 6 CJ Egan-Riley (4 Joe Worrall, 84), 8 Josh Brownhill (capt, 7 Jeremy Sarmiento, 68), 11 Jaidon Anthony (30 Luca Koleosho, 69), 14 Connor Roberts, 17 Lyle Foster (28 Hannibal Mejbri, 77), 19 Zian Flemming (9 Jay Rodriguez, 77), 23 Lucas Pires, 24 Josh Cullen, 29 Josh Laurent. Substitutes: 32 Vaclav Hladky (gk), 12 Bashir Humphreys, 16 John Egan, 35 Ashley Barnes.  

Goals: Flemming 11, 31, Laurent 34, 45, Cullen 45  

Referee: John Busby 

Attendance: 15.509 (923 away)