Scott Arfield’s second half goal saw league leaders Burnley to a 1-0 victory over the Blues, their first win at Portman Road since January 1970. The midfielder stooped to head home in the 80th minute of a tight and keenly contested encounter.
Mick McCarthy named the expected unchanged line-up for the fifth game running with the only switch of personnel in the matchday 18 Jack Marriott coming on to the bench in place of Anthony Wordsworth. Championship leaders Burnley were also unchanged.
Clever work on the left from David McGoldrick conjured the first opportunity in the fifth minute. The striker found space for Ryan Tunnicliffe on the left and eventually received the ball back from Daryl Murphy inside the area, but ex-Canary Jason Shackell got across to block as the Blues’ top scorer looked to shoot.
Town had the better of the early stages of a game played on a wet surface with drizzle continuing to fall. Burnley’s only significant foray forward had been an early break down the left from Michael Kightly but his cross was easily cut out by Cresswell.
The Blues continued to have most of the ball but without threatening. At the other end, Dean Gerken had little trouble with Scott Arfield’s weak 22nd minute effort, then Christophe Berra did well to take the ball away from Danny Ings as the striker looked to take it down and past him on the edge of the area.
On 28 Hyam won the ball midway inside the Clarets’ half, Cresswell eventually crossing into the box where it fell to McGoldrick eight yards out. The striker tried to find space to shoot but could only scuff an effort goalwards which was cleared by Shackell. At the other end, Sam Vokes shot high and wide from a tight angle but having strayed offside.
Burnley right-back Kieran Trippier did superbly to reach a David Jones ball down the right in the 31st minute, his low ball flashing across the area.
Blues keeper Gerken suffered what appeared to be a knee injury in that incident as he and Vokes collided and, having received treatment on a couple of occasions, was eventually forced off, Scott Loach taking over in goal and making his first appearance since the Leeds defeat in August.
On 40 Kightly intercepted from Berra on the Burnley left but his low cross was cut out by Luke Chambers. Two minutes later, Paul Anderson headed past the post from a wayward Burnley clearance.
Just before the break Cole Skuse twice came close to opening his Town goals account. First he slammed a loose ball inside the area into Trippier's face inside the six-yard box, then Tunnicliffe teed him up 20 yards out and his strike flew narrowly past Tom Heaton’s left post.
Town just about had the better of the first half, although without having tested Heaton significantly. At the other end, the Blues backline had largely managed to nullify the threat presented by 19-goal strike pair Vokes and Ings, with Kightly, who was plucked from non-league Grays Athletic by Mick McCarthy during his Wolves days, the main threat down the left.
Soon after the break, Berra reached a Cresswell freekick from deep on the right but could only guide his header into Heaton’s midriff.
Anderson threaded Murphy through on the right of the area but Shackell got back to force the Town striker away from goal and eventually the ball out of play.
On 53 Vokes was sent away on goal by Scott Arfield but Chambers similarly got back to make a vital saving tackle and then clear the danger.
Four minutes later, McGoldrick flicked the ball into the path of Cresswell, but the left-back’s strike hit Shackell, referee Graham Scott waving away Town’s handball protests.
Burnley’s Dean Marney was left in a heap on the hour after he and Tunnicliffe chased a ball out of play and he collided with the advertising hoarding after appearing to slip on the Fieldturf surrounding the pitch. After treatment, the former Spurs man was OK to carry on.
Anderson shot wide from the edge of the box, then Skuse just failed to find McGoldrick with a flick over the Clarets’ backline from a similar area.
The game was evenly balanced. For Burnley, Ings tried to take a ball into feet past Berra but the Blues defender was alert to it. The resulting corner was cleared but quickly returned and Kightly hit a low shot after cutting in from the left, which Loach saved comfortably.
McGoldrick hit another strike wide in the 64th minute with the Blues still not testing keeper Heaton often enough.
The sides continued to largely cancel one another out and clear cut chances were rare with McGoldrick’s 75th minute looping header too high to threaten Heaton’s goal.
With 10 minutes remaining, Burnley went in front. Town half-cleared a cross from the left and Trippier returned the ball from deep on the right. Arfield had got away from his man, who looked to have been Hyam, who had only recently undergone treatment for a knee problem, and flicked a header beyond Loach and into the net.
McCarthy switched Jay Tabb and Frank Nouble for Anderson and Murphy as the game moved into its final five minutes with the Blues not particularly threatening to get an equaliser.
A minute and a half before the end of scheduled time, Shackell dispossessed Tabb in a dangerous area on the left inside the area, then Ings wasn’t far away from netting Burnley’s second as the match went into three minutes of injury time, his 25-yard shot flying past the angle of post and bar.
Late on Berra was thrown forward as an extra frontman and twice almost sent McGoldrick through on goal, but referee Scott’s whistle came soon afterwards to condemn McCarthy’s men to only their second home defeat of the season and Burnley’s first win at Portman Road in more than 43 years and only their second in their history.
The win and QPR's 2-2 draw at Millwall increases the Clarets' lead at the top of the table to two points with their start to the season now their best for 116 years. Town remain in 11th but now seven points from the play-offs.
It was a game in which the defences were largely on top and which could have gone either way. A draw might have been a fair reflection but Arfield took his side’s chance when it came, while all too often Town failed to make the most of their opportunities with Heaton tested too rarely.
While disappointed to lose, and probably with the manner of the goal, Mick McCarthy is unlikely to be too unhappy with his team’s display against the division’s surprise leaders.
Town: Gerken (Loach 39), Chambers, Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Anderson (Tabb 85), Hyam, Skuse, Tunnicliffe, Murphy (Nouble 85), McGoldrick. Unused: Hewitt, Mings, Edwards, Marriott.
Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Mee, Marney (Edgar 88), Vokes, Ings, Jones, Kightly (Treacy 82), Arfield. Unused: Cisak, Lafferty, Stanislas, Long. Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire). Att: 16,062 (Burnley: 670).