Fulham 0-2 Burnley: Wilson Odobert and Sander Berge secure third Premier League win for Clarets

Wilson Odobert’s stunning goal helped Burnley climb off the bottom of the table as they secured their third Premier League win of the season at Fulham.

Sander Berge then arrowed in a second for Vincent Kompany’s side with a low strike into the corner of the net.

Fulham were left to rue missed chances as Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford kept the home side at bay.

The match was refereed by Rebecca Welch, who became the first woman to take charge of a Premier League game.

“It feels like something we have deserved for a while,” Burnley boss Kompany told BBC’s Match of the Day.

“We keep going and today we kept going. A good team performance and a good result.”

Burnley’s Trafford was comfortably the busier of the two goalkeepers throughout, and he made two vital saves in the first half with the scoreline goalless.

The England Under-21s stopper did well to keep out Harry Wilson’s effort at the near post after a jinking run and pushed a deflected Alex Iwobi shot wide of the post.

A scramble in the box shortly before half-time saw also Iwobi shoot at goal but Zeki Amdouni managed to block.

Burnley began the second half on the front foot and their early endeavour was rewarded with a fine opening goal.

Odobert exchanged a neat one-two with Lyle Foster and then opened up his body to spectacularly curl the ball beyond the diving Bernd Leno.

From there Burnley had a spring in their step and Norway midfielder Berge, allowed freedom by a Fulham defence in retreat, fired in a second from the edge of the box.

Fulham piled on the pressure but could not find a way past Trafford, who saved well from Timothy Castagne late on.

The result helped Burnley, bottom at kick-off, leapfrog Sheffield United up to 19th place – four points adrift of safety, as Fulham slipped down to 12th.

Clarets show plenty of grit

This was a much-needed boost for Kompany’s side heading into a festive period in which they will face tough games against Liverpool and Aston Villa.

What will have pleased the Belgian most is the character and stomach for the fight from his side to end a five-match run away from home without a win.

Keeper Trafford has epitomised that spirit in recent weeks as one of Burnley’s most impressive performers, but in this contest he was backed up by the rest of his team-mates.

The Clarets pressed, chased and harried when not in possession and showed a real willingness to put their bodies on the line.

A ruthlessness in front of goal – scoring from their only two shots on target – ensured they have now picked up five more points away from home than at Turf Moor.

Equally important was Burnley’s first clean sheet for 15 Premier League away matches.

They will need more of the same if they are to have any chance of avoiding relegation after winning promotion back to the top flight last season.

“The whole team really values wins and clean sheets. We have never really been short of confidence as a team,” Trafford said.

“We believe in the whole process. The performances have been there and it was only a matter of time before the results came.”

Fulham, for their part, were unable to convert their dominance in the first half into goals.

When they fell behind the Cottagers started to look jaded as the exertions of a penalty shootout victory over Everton in the EFL Cup during the week caught up with them.

Fulham have now lost their past three home league games against the Clarets and Marco Silva will look for a quick response at Bournemouth on 26 December.

“I think after we conceded the first goal we lost some principles. Clearly we deserved more from the game,” Silva said.

“They had two shots on target but the reality is they were more ruthless. This can happen in the Premier League.”