Burnley manager Vincent Kompany said that even he is surprised at the speed at which his side secured promotion to the Premier League after they won 2-1 against Middlesbrough on Friday.
A 19-game unbeaten league run has taken the Clarets 19 points clear of third-placed Luton Town, who have just six games remaining, at the top of the Championship.
Burnley still have seven games to play, making their promotion the quickest of the Championship era.
Photo: AP
“It’s Easter and there’s seven games to go and we’re already celebrating. We didn’t expect it,” Kompany told Sky Sports. “We wanted to experience this at some point, but quicker is better sometimes as well.”
The decision to act swiftly to land the former Manchester City captain after his first managerial spell at Anderlecht came to an end has proved a masterstroke.
Many feared the worst when Burnley’s six-year stay in the English top flight came to an end last season.
Due to the terms of a controversial leveraged takeover by an American consortium in late 2020, a “significant proportion” of a ￡65 million (US$78 million) loan had to be repaid when they were relegated.
Players whose values totaled nearly ￡70 million players departed, but Kompany has put together almost an entirely new squad at a fraction of the cost, with his knowledge of the Belgian market and connections at City helping to land bargains.
“This was a complete surprise, this was not our plan,” Burnley chairman Alan Pace said. “Vincent and I talked about it in the summer, we gave ourselves two, three years was our plan. I think what you’ve seen is a lot of magic coming together.”
“This team is very, very good. You hear Vincent say it every week,” Pace said. “They’re surprising each and every one of us every day, they’re phenomenal.”
Fullback Connor Roberts scored the decisive goal 24 minutes from time at the Riverside when the Wales international turned home Nathan Tella’s cross.
Ashley Barnes had given Kompany’s men the perfect start before Chuba Akpom leveled from the penalty spot with his 27th goal of the season.
Burnley’s victory also helped Sheffield United edge closer to a Premier League return as Middlesbrough remain in fourth.
The Blades now have an eight-point cushion in second and a game in hand after Iliman Ndiaye scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Wigan Athletic at Bramall Lane.
“If teams around us drop points it’s a bonus, but we don’t focus on results elsewhere,” said Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom, whose side face Burnley on Monday. “As long as we keep winning and making that margin of error even finer for them, we don’t have to worry about anything else.”
Luton extended their unbeaten run to eight games at The Den, but a stalemate with fifth-placed Millwall did little to help either side’s promotion chances.
Norwich City closed to within one point of the playoff places as goals from Liam Gibbs and Gabriel Sara beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Ewood Park.
Sunderland’s hope of back-to-back promotions is fading after a remarkable 4-4 draw with Hull City at the Stadium of Light.
The lead changed hands four times as Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo struck twice for Sunderland. Ozan Tufan’s penalty with the last kick of the game salvaged a point for the Tigers.
At the bottom of the table, Neil Warnock’s resurgent Huddersfield Town won 3-2 against Watford to climb out of the relegation zone, while Reading dropped into the bottom three after a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City.
Elsewhere, Rotherham United beat West Bromwich Albion 3-1, Swansea City and Coventry City played out a goalless draw, Queens Park Rangers lost 2-0 against Preston North End, Stoke City fell 2-1 against Bristol City and Blackpool were beaten 3-1 by Cardiff City.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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