Burnley 1, Stoke City 0
The victory over Stoke City took Sean Dyche's to within a point of their rivals but, more importantly, restored a more favourable cushion over 18th place Hull City.
The fixture seemed destined for a goalless draw with both sides starved of creativity for the majority until an inventive burst from Jeff Hendrick shortly before the hour teed up George Boyd for the winner.
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Hide AdSimilarly to the opening half against Spurs at the weekend, the hosts failed to make an impression in the final third as former Clarets shot stopper Lee Grant remained untested.
The goalkeeper's solitary contribution came when he comfortably gathered Ben Mee's header after Steven Defour sat his set-piece up at the far post.
The away side's best chance of the half came from Burnley's own corner. Defour's poor kick was cleared, Charlie Adam ignited the counter, Saido Berahino threaded the ball through but Marko Arnautovic, who had beaten the offside trap, took a heavy touch and wasted the opportunity.
Adam was behind Stoke City's next couple of attempts at goal, guiding Arnautovic's corner goalwards before hitting the target with a stinging drive, but Burnley skipper Tom Heaton was right behind both efforts.
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Hide AdThe Scotsman continued where he left off after the break, engineering the away side's sightings of Heaton's goal.
The former Blackpool midfielder then sliced wide from Arnautovic's pull back, though a discrete push from Defour appeared to force him off balance.
The key moment of the game arrived in the 58th minute and it was a moment of magic from Hendrick.
The Republic of Ireland international weaved his way past Joe Allen, Adam and Mame Diouf to break in to the box, pulling the ball back for Boyd who steered the ball across Grant and in to the far corner with a delicate touch.
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Hide AdThe home side never really looked like losing their lead from that point as they protected their advantage with pure professionalism.
Arnautovic blazed high and wide from the edge of the box and substitute Peter Crouch acrobatically fired the ball in to the side-netting. But that was as close as it got.
At the other end, Grant adjusted well to stop Hendrick's deflected shot off Ryan Shawcross from creeping over the line while Ashley Barnes, who had replaced Andre Gray, stabbed the ball over having been picked out by record signing Robbie Brady.
The Clarets, now with 35 points, are up to 12th in the table after eclipsing their top flight points tally from two season's ago.