Burnley 3-0 Blackburn Rovers: Clarets win East Lancashire derby to return to top of Championship

Ashley Barnes' extremity was his archetypal successful the league astatine Turf Moor since February 2021

Burnley overwhelmed Blackburn Rovers with 3 second-half goals arsenic Vincent Kompany's Clarets returned to the apical of the Championship successful style.

In the archetypal league gathering betwixt the 2 aged East Lancashire rivals successful six-and-a-half years, and the past Championship crippled earlier the World Cup break, it took the hosts until conscionable earlier half-time to trial visiting keeper Thomas Kaminski.

But it was a antithetic communicative aft Barnes enactment Burnley up connected 55 minutes, timing his tally to conscionable Zaroury's left-wing transverse and powerfulness a header into the bottommost close corner.

They past doubled their pb connected 74 minutes erstwhile Barnes' right-foot volley connected the crook was good saved by Kaminski, the shot ran escaped and Zaroury drilled successful a debased right-foot changeable from the borderline of the container - for his sixth Clarets extremity of the season.

And Barnes, who similar two-goal Zaroury had besides scored successful the 3-1 midweek Carabao Cup triumph implicit Crawley, wrapped up the scoring 9 minutes from time.

• Relive Burnley's triumph implicit Blackburn

Burnley had been knocked disconnected the apical of the array by Sheffield United's triumph astatine Cardiff connected Saturday, a week connected from the Clarets being badly beaten 5-2 by the Blades astatine Bramall Lane.

But, aft a resolute antiaircraft stonewalling show from Rovers earlier the break, Burnley ended up bouncing backmost with a winning three-goal borderline of their own.

It began to crook Burnley's mode conscionable earlier the interruption erstwhile Belgian keeper Kaminski made 2 good saves wrong a mates of minutes, archetypal astatine point-blank scope from on-loan Manchester City defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, past tipping implicit Josh Cullen's header.

But Barnes yet broke the deadlock to nonstop astir of Turf Moor into rapture erstwhile Zaroury got the amended of Ryan Hedges retired wide and Barnes bulleted location his header.

Nathan Tella's flick past teed up Barnes for his well-struck volley, from which the luckless Kaminski's good prevention was pounced connected by Zaroury.

Then Josh Brownhill skipped past Clinton Mola and pulled his transverse backmost for Barnes, who calmly slipped a situation to fired location the 3rd - and agelong their vantage implicit third-placed Rovers to 5 points.

Amid the Burnley celebrations adjacent full-time, a firework was fto disconnected from extracurricular the ground, with its remnants falling connected the pitch. Thankfully, nary of the players were deed by the falling debris.