Joey Barton marked his return to Burnley by scoring a 78th-minute winner from a free kick as the Clarets maintained their tremendous home form at Turf Moor with a 1-0 win over Southampton on Saturday.
The midfielder, who had left Burnley after helping them win promotion to the top-flight and endured a torrid time at Scottish club Rangers, struck his kick low and, after a deflection, keeper Fraser Forster was left no chance.
Dusan Tadic had come closest to putting the visitors ahead in the first half of a dull contest but after Barton’s goal, Southampton roared back in the last 10 minutes with Burnley left indebted to goalkeeper Tom Heaton for three late stops.
After Heaton had kept out both Jay Rodriguez and Josh Sims with a spectacular double save, Burnley managed to eke out their eighth home win of the season to leapfrog Southampton in mid-table.
