Burnley edge out Cardiff to continue rise up standings

Burnley continued their Premier League climb with a 2-1 victory at Cardiff taking them up five places to 12th.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Sam Vokes netted second-half goals either side of Josh Murphy’s equaliser to give the Clarets back-to-back league wins for the first time since April.

Cardiff knew victory would take them above Burnley and outside the relegation zone.

Burnley thrashed Bournemouth 4-0 in their last league outing, but they were grateful for an improved second-half performance as the Clarets were dire before the break.

But victory came at a cost with their England defender James Tarkowski forced off after 27 minutes with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

The 25-year-old won his second England cap in starting the 1-0 friendly win over Switzerland during the last international break.

Cardiff had the better of a first half which was low on quality and saw the ball spend an inordinate amount of time in the air.

Murphy struck the woodwork after playing a one-two with Harry Arter, although Joe Hart looked as if he might have had the shot covered.

Hart also had his angles sorted at the base of a post when he prevented Kenneth Zohore profiting from Victor Camarasa’s cute pass.

Cardiff adopted a direct approach to put Burnley under pressure as the half wore on, with the tactic almost paying dividends on more than one occasion.

Murphy’s close-range effort was ruled out with Sean Morrison pinning down Tarkowski’s replacement, Kevin Long, from a corner, and Matej Vydra cleared Callum Paterson’s header from under his own crossbar.

But referee Martin Atkinson decided the Burnley defender was too close to the Cardiff forward and could not get out of the way of the shot.

Burnley had carried little attacking threat until the 51st minute when Cardiff were caught out by a quick throw.

That was extremely harsh on Cardiff, but they were level within nine minutes when Camarasa and Manga combined down the right and Murphy swept home his first goal following his £11million summer arrival from Norwich.

Murphy’s confidence was now running high and he forced Hart in to a fine fingertip save from 20 yards.

But Burnley were back ahead after 71 minutes when Westwood spotted Gudmundsson’s run and Vokes stooped to head home the cross and settle the contest.