All Whites striker Chris Wood was denied an equalising goal by the video assistant referee (VAR), as Burnley fell 2-1 to Leicester City on an emotional day at King Power Stadium.
Sunday's (NZ time) match was a special tribute to former club chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died on October 27 last year, when his helicopter crashed shortly after take-off near the stadium.
But the match was filled with drama, as Wood, who had put Burnley ahead on 26 minutes, thought he had scored for a second time, before VAR ruled he had accidentally tripped Jonny Evans in the build-up.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche was furious that his side left with nothing from a game marked by much emotion.
"The key moment has gone against us," said Dyche. "I'm a big fan of VAR, but it has to be used more wisely than that.
"If you start giving things like that - Chris Wood only has eyes for the ball and the defender isn't getting it in a million years.
"The referee doesn’t even use the screen, he has got to come and look at that, and I’d be surprised if he gave it."
Jamie Vardy matched Wood's opener with a superb header just before the break, rising high to powerfully meet Harvey Barnes’ cross from seven yards out for his sixth goal of the season.
Substitute Demarai Gray had an effort rightly disallowed for offside, before making a telling contribution on 74 minutes, when he centred for Harvey Barnes to pick out Youri Tielemans, who crashed the ball home at the far post.
Meanwhile, champions Manchester City reduced the gap on English Premier League leaders Liverpool to five points, after a confident 2-0 victory at Crystal Palace.
Gabriel Jesus and David Silva scored, as City put the pressure on Liverpool, who play at Manchester United on Monday.
City took almost 40 minutes to find the breakthrough in south London, but two goals in two minutes sealed the win, after two defeats in four league games.
Jesus opened the scoring on 39 minutes and then Silva finished off a slick move with the second goal.
Elsewhere, Chelsea are now fourth behind Leicester, as they continued their resurgence by seeing off Newcastle 1-0, thanks to Marcos Alonso's second-half goal.
Struggling Tottenham Hotspur escaped defeat with a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Watford. Dele Alli saved Spurs' blushes with the leveller, although they needed VAR to award the goal.
Everton moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over West Ham, Bernard and Gylfi Sigurdssson scoring.
And Matt Targett scored the winner, as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Brighton 2-1.
Wolves drew 1-1 with Southampton and Norwich held Bournemouth to a goal-less draw in the day's other matches.
Reuters
