Burnley 2-1 Leicester City

Defender Kevin Long scored his first Premier League goal for Burnley

Burnley manager Sean Dyche is refusing to get carried away with the prospect of featuring in Europe next season despite seeing his side take a significant step towards qualifying for the Europa League with victory over Leicester City.

Chris Wood scored against his former club while Kevin Long headed a second as the Clarets made it a five straight league wins.

Dyche's side are seventh in the Premier League, which will be enough to qualify for the Europa League unless Southampton win the FA Cup.

"Our story is still about getting as many points as we can get," said Dyche.

On potentially qualifying for the Europa League, he added: "In five and a half years there has been a lot of work done here. We have had some tough times and some very good times.

"Who knows what it will bring but we will just wait and see."

• What happened in the Premier League on Saturday?
• Reaction from Turf Moor and the rest of Saturday's Premier League games

Leicester wasted several chances before Jamie Vardy's powerful finish reduced the deficit, but Burnley hung on to open up a nine point lead on their eighth-placed opponents with five games to play.

Foxes boss Claude Puel said afterwards that his side's chances of qualifying for the Europa League were all but over.

"I think so, yes," said the Frenchman.

"Of course there are games remaining but they [Burnley] now have a lot of chances."

Chris Wood reached double figures in the Premier League by scoring against his old club

Europe beckons for Burnley after 51-year absence

The Clarets are well placed to play in Europe for the first time since the 1966-67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which later became the Uefa Cup.

Dyche and his players have won an army of admirers for an extraordinary season in which Burnley are on course to finish in the top seven on a reported wage bill of just £37m.

This is the first time the Lancashire club have won five consecutive matches in the top flight since November 1968 and the latest success typified their season.

All the key ingredients were there - hard work, grit, determination - as Leicester threw everything at them in the second half.

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Burnley 2-1 Leicester: Sean Dyche praises keeper Nick Pope after Clarets win

Wood reached double figures for league goals this season after being played in by Ashley Barnes, before an unmarked Long pounced from a corner for his first Premier League goal for the club.

England manager Gareth Southgate witnessed Burnley's latest win, and will have been impressed with goalkeeper Nick Pope.

He played his part in his side's 14th league victory of the season by denying Riyad Mahrez and, before he scored, Vardy.

Dyche was singled out for particular praise by Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer for guiding Burnley through their unbeaten run.

"Once they score one or two goals, they're difficult to peg back because they don't concede many," Shearer said.

"Burnley are either going to finish sixth or seventh. They went from December to February without a Premier League win, Sean Dyche has to be one of the, if not the, manager of the season."

• Relive the action from Turf Moor
• Burnley boss Sean Dyche on club's Europa League chances

Wasteful Foxes pay the price

Vardy scored for the fourth successive league game to take his top-flight tally this season to 17, but he was also responsible, along with others, for some poor misses.

At the end of the first half, and with Burnley 2-0 up, the England striker tamely headed wide after Harry Maguire's pin-point cross.

Mahrez, who clipped the post with a free-kick, also should have scored on a disappointing day at both ends for the Foxes, who gave a first Premier League start to 20-year-old midfielder Hamza Choudhury.

Vardy's goal, after substitute Kelechi Iheanacho's clever pass, was little consolation for manager Claude Puel, who lost goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to injury in the closing stages.

"He took a heavy knock and we will have to see whether he can be fit for our next game," added Puel.

The Frenchman took over in October when the team was 14th in the table.

Although Leicester are on course for a top-half finish, Puel has his work cut out to improve Leicester in the summer.

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Burnley 2-1 Leicester: Foxes defeat hard to accept - Claude Puel

Explainer - how seventh place gets into Europe

• The fifth-placed team in the Premier League will enter the Europa League at the group stage, as will the FA Cup winners.
• Because Manchester City have already guaranteed their Champions League place, their Europa League place as EFL Cup winners reverts to the league, so the sixth-placed team will also enter the Europa League.
• Realistically, unless Southampton win the FA Cup, the seventh-placed team will also qualify for the Europa League (as the other three semi-finalists - Manchester United, Chelsea and Spurs - look almost certain to finish in the top six).
• FA Cup runners-up are no longer eligible to enter Europe by virtue of being losing finalists.
• If Arsenal win the Europa League and finish outside the top four, they will qualify for the Champions League, and only two English sides will enter the Europa League as no more than seven clubs from each country can compete in Europe.

The run-in - who plays who?

Burnley	Leicester
v Chelsea (h) 19 April	v Southampton (h) 19 April
v Stoke (a) 22 April	v Crystal Palace (a) 28 April
v Brighton (h) 28 April	v West Ham (h) 5 May
v Arsenal (a) 5 May	v Arsenal (h) 9 May
v Bournemouth (h) 13 May	v Tottenham (a) 13 May

Man of the match - Nick Pope (Burnley)

Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope impressed in front of watching England boss Gareth Southgate. Not only was he a commanding presence in his penalty area, Pope made fine saves to deny Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy

Another Vardy goal, another defeat - the stats

• Vardy has been on the losing side in eight Premier League games this season when he has scored, a record for a single campaign in the competition.
• Vardy has scored in eight of his past 10 Premier League appearances (8 goals), after finding the back of net in just three of his 12 games before that (3 goals).
• This is the first time Burnley have scored two goals inside the opening 10 minutes of Premier League game.
• It is also just the first time Leicester conceded two goals within the first 10 minutes of a Premier League game since August 2003.
• Wood has been directly involved in six goals in his five Premier League games since coming back from injury (5 goals, 1 assists).
• Gudmundsson has provided seven assists in the Premier League this season, two more than any other Burnley player has ever managed in a single campaign in the competition.
• Long has registered goal involvements in consecutive league games (1 goal, 1 assist) for the first time since December 2011 for Accrington.

What's next?

Burnley and Leicester are back in Premier League action on Thursday as they host teams who are involved in next weekend's FA Cup semi-finals. Burnley entertain Chelsea at Turf Moor (19:45 BST) at the same time as Leicester take on struggling Southampton.

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Burnley

• 29Pope
• 2Lowton
• 28Long
• 5Tarkowski
• 23Ward
• 25LennonBooked at 65mins
• 4Cork
• 18Westwood
• 17Berg Gudmundsson
• 10BarnesBooked at 81minsSubstituted forVokesat 85'minutes
• 11WoodSubstituted forHendrickat 75'minutes

Substitutes

• 1Heaton
• 3Taylor
• 8Marney
• 9Vokes
• 13Hendrick
• 21Wells
• 26Bardsley

Leicester

• 1SchmeichelSubstituted forHamerat 86'minutes
• 2Simpson
• 5Morgan
• 15Maguire
• 3Chilwell
• 26Mahrez
• 38Choudhury
• 14Adrien Silva
• 7GraySubstituted forDiabatéat 64'minutes
• 20OkazakiSubstituted forIheanachoat 45'minutesBooked at 87mins
• 9Vardy

Substitutes

• 8Iheanacho
• 11Albrighton
• 12Hamer
• 16Dragovic
• 28Fuchs
• 32Barnes
• 33Diabaté

Referee:

Martin Atkinson

Attendance:

21,727

Match Stats

Home TeamBurnleyAway TeamLeicester

Possession

Home39%

Away61%

Shots

Home8

Away15

Shots on Target

Home3

Away6

Corners

Home4

Away8

Fouls

Home9

Away10

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Burnley 2, Leicester City 1.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+5'

Second Half ends, Burnley 2, Leicester City 1.

Posted at 90'+5'

Attempt missed. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Fousseni Diabaté with a cross.

Posted at 90'

Foul by Harry Maguire (Leicester City).

Posted at 90'

Sam Vokes (Burnley) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Booking

Posted at 87'

Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 87'

Foul by Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City).

Posted at 87'

Ashley Westwood (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 86'

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

Substitution

Posted at 86'

Substitution, Leicester City. Ben Hamer replaces Kasper Schmeichel because of an injury.

Substitution

Posted at 85'

Substitution, Burnley. Sam Vokes replaces Ashley Barnes.

Posted at 85'

Delay in match Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City) because of an injury.

Posted at 83'

Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Stephen Ward.

Posted at 83'

Attempt blocked. Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

Booking

Posted at 81'

Ashley Barnes (Burnley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 81'

Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 81'

Foul by Ashley Barnes (Burnley).

Posted at 79'

Adrien Silva (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 79'

Foul by Kevin Long (Burnley).

Posted at 77'

Attempt saved. Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Adrien Silva with a through ball.

Substitution

Posted at 75'

Substitution, Burnley. Jeff Hendrick replaces Chris Wood.

Posted at 73'

Foul by Adrien Silva (Leicester City).

Posted at 73'

Jack Cork (Burnley) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Goal!

Posted at 72'

Goal! Burnley 2, Leicester City 1. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Kelechi Iheanacho following a fast break.

Posted at 71'

Foul by Jamie Vardy (Leicester City).

Posted at 71'

Kevin Long (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 69'

Foul by Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City).

Posted at 69'

James Tarkowski (Burnley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 69'

Attempt missed. Ashley Barnes (Burnley) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by James Tarkowski with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 69'

Attempt blocked. Aaron Lennon (Burnley) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.

Posted at 68'

Corner, Burnley. Conceded by Wes Morgan.

Posted at 67'

Attempt missed. Adrien Silva (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Riyad Mahrez following a corner.

Posted at 66'

Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Matthew Lowton.

Booking

Posted at 65'

Aaron Lennon (Burnley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 65'

Ben Chilwell (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 65'

Foul by Aaron Lennon (Burnley).

Substitution

Posted at 64'

Substitution, Leicester City. Fousseni Diabaté replaces Demarai Gray.

Posted at 62'

Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Nick Pope.

Posted at 62'

Attempt saved. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Adrien Silva.

Posted at 62'

Attempt blocked. Demarai Gray (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

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