Vincent Kompany’s Burnley secured promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt with victory over fourth-placed Middlesbrough.
The Clarets, unbeaten in the league since November, took an early lead when Ashley Barnes redirected Josh Brownhill’s low shot into the back of the net.
The home side equalised just after half-time when Championship top scorer Chuba Akpom scored from the spot after Josh Cullen felled Cameron Archer in the penalty area.
Connor Roberts steered in the winner from Nathan Tella’s near-post cross and Kompany’s men saw out the rest of the game in comfort to spark wild celebrations on the pitch and among their travelling fans.
Victory for the east Lancashire side sent them 19 points clear of third-placed Luton, who have six games left to play.
Kompany left Belgian top-flight side Anderlecht to take over at Turf Moor after they were relegated on the final day of last season, and the former Manchester City defender has enjoyed a near-flawless first campaign.
Despite a massive turnaround of players in the summer following the end of their six-year spell in the Premier League they have become the first team in the English Football League to secure promotion in 2022-23, having been top of the table since October 25.
The Lancashire side now need just 11 points from their final seven games to secure the title, while 13 will see them become the first Championship team to break the 100-point barrier since Leicester City in 2013-14.
The Clarets host second-placed Sheffield United, the last team to beat them in a league game 19 matches ago, on Monday.
For fourth-placed Middlesbrough this was a damaging second successive defeat and they are eight points adrift of the Blades, who have also played a game fewer.
Record-breaking Clarets a fine vintage
Burnley have now won promotion to the Premier League in each of their past three seasons in the second tier.
However, this has looked very different to their previous successes under long-serving boss Sean Dyche, who, incidentally, was sacked on Good Friday last year.
From the first game of the season, when they saw off Huddersfield in the Championship curtain-raiser, it was apparent that they would be playing a far more possession-based game to the one employed by Dyche.
They suffered defeat at Watford in the third game of the campaign and had just six points from their first five matches, but Kompany did not waiver and a 16-match unbeaten run sent them to the top of the league.
A heavy 5-2 defeat at Sheffield United did not derail them, as they secured a 3-0 win over east Lancashire rivals Blackburn in their next game.
They picked up where they had left off after the break for the World Cup and they equalled a club record with a 10-game winning run that saw them open up a huge gap on the chasing pack.
No side has won promotion to the Premier League with seven games left since the second tier rebranded in 2004 – and Burnley will now look to secure the title, break the 100-point barrier and become the first team to go unbeaten at home in a Championship season since Newcastle United in 2009-10.
BBC.
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