BURNLEY - 2

WOLVES -

BURNLEY gave manager Sean Dyche the perfect gift in his 300th game at the helm as a Conor Coady own goal and a lovely Dwight McNeil finish gave them a 2-0 victory over Wolves.

After four losses on the bounce, it was key the Clarets got back to winning ways in their push for Premier League survival.

This win leaves them five points ahead of Cardiff City - who have two games in hand.

Burnley couldn't have wished for a better start as Chris Wood's effort rebounded off the post to go in off Coady to give Burnley the lead inside the opening two minutes.

McNeil played the Kiwi in with a lovely, lofted free-kick. Wood rounded Rui Patricio with a perfect first touch and then finished with his left.

The Wolves skipper was unfortunate as there was nothing he could do when the ball came back off the post and nestle in the back of the net.

After 23 minutes, Wolves had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down as Jonny struck a sweet one towards goal and it struck a Burnley arm.

The referee rightfully waved it away.

The first half was mainly controlled by the visitors, without truly threatening Tom Heaton. Burnley defended resolutely to keep Wolves' number of chances down to a minimum.

The visitors had a huge chance to level the tie as Ben Mee missed his challenge out wide - leaving him out of position.

The ball made its way to Cavaleiro who fired way over the bar. Should've done better.

It looked as though Wolves were going to level through Jota 10 minutes after the break, but a superb James Tarkowski block preserved their lead.

Wolves massively upped their level in the second half and pinned the Clarets pack for the majority of it.

Burnley's defending, in particularly Mee's, was brilliant and it neutralised much of the visitors' attacks.

Despite all of the possession, Wolves failed to make clear cut chances as one of their best efforts came from a Jonny header.

The header came with 20 minutes to play, but captain Heaton was there to ease the pressure.

With 15 minutes left, McNeil all but secured the three points as he drove home from 25-yards.

He picked up a loose ball, ran forward with it and sweetly struck one in to the far, bottom corner of Patricio's goal.

Burnley needed that two-goal cushion as Wolves kept on pushing and pushing.

Burnley: Heaton; Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; McNeil (86' Gudmundsson), Cork, Westwood, Hendrick; Barnes, Wood

Unused subs: Hart, Lowton, Ward, Vydra, Gibson, Brady

Wolves: Patricio; Saiss, Coady, Boly; Traore (72' Costa), Dendoncker (59' Doherty), Moutinho, Neves, Jonny; Jota, Cavaleiro (59' Jimenez)

Unused subs: Ruddy, Gibbs-White, Vinagre, Kilman