Jeff Hendrick is well settled in the Premier League at this stage and proving to be more than up for the challenge.
The Republic of Ireland international scored his second league goal in a 1-0 win for Burnley that now moves them up to seventh.
Sean Dyche has, this morning, been linked with the vacant Everton manager’s job but The Clarets boss was, instead, focusing on his side’s impressive start to the season.
Hendrick had a fine game in the No.10 role. With Chris Wood out injured and Sam Vokes not fully fit, Hendrick backed up sole Burnley forward Ashley Barnes but popped up across the pitch over the course of the night.
He had 45 touches, three shots on goal, a tidy pass completion rate [81%] and he roofed home the all important winner in the 74th minute. The goal came about after Johann Berg Gudmundsson saw his shot saved by Elliot but reacted first to the rebound, whipping in a cross to the back post.
Hendrick had to stay patient and wait for the cross to reach him – with Elliot and Newcastle defender DeAndre Yedlin straining to get a touch – before he controlled on his right thigh.
Yedlin did not make it easy for the Burnley man but he stayed composed and finished high into the net.
Following the game, Hendrick was interviewed for the official club website and made an admission about the goal that was perfectly understandable:
“It was a tight game. We knew that coming into it. We watched clips on them and they are quite similar to us. They keep it tight and they’re hard to break down. But we knew if we kept going they concede goals in the second half and thankfully we got that goal.
“I was hoping the full-back didn’t get a head on it and then I had plenty of time and an open goal.
“If I had missed that, I could have just walked off the pitch, that would have been me done. Thankfully, I had enough time and put it away.”
Burnley, who had Stephen Ward and Robbie Brady in their starting XI, are away against Southampton next before home games against Swansea and Arsenal. They could breach the top four yet.
