Barnes strikes as Burnley top Championship with derby win over Blackburn

London, Nov 13, 2022 (AFP) - Ashley Barnes scored twice as Burnley overwhelmed Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers 3-0 on Sunday to go top of English football's second-tier Championship heading into the World Cup break.

Victory at Turf Moor saw the Clarets leapfrog Sheffield United into first place and pull five points clear of Rovers, with only the top two at the end of the regular season guaranteed promotion to the lucrative Premier League.

Barnes's first league goal of the season broke the deadlock in the second half and that effort paved the way for a convincing win.

Rovers goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski made two good saves shortly before the interval, with the visitors threatening early in the second half through Ben Brereton Diaz.

But it was Burnley who opened the scoring in the 55th minute, with Barnes heading in from Anass Zaroury's cross.

The Clarets doubled their lead in the 74th minute, when Barnes's right-foot volley on the turn was well saved by Kaminski, only for the ball to run loose, with Zaroury shooting low from the edge of the box for his sixth goal of the season.

Barnes, who also scored in the 3-1 midweek League Cup win over Crawley, wrapped up the scoring nine minutes from time when he fired in from Josh Brownhill's pull-back.