BURNLEY, United Kingdom — Record-signing Jeff Hendrick scored his first goal for Burnley as it beat Watford 2-0 in the Premier League at Turf Moor Monday.
Irish midfielder Hendrick signed from second-tier Derby County last month for a reported 10 million pounds ($13.1 million) on a three-year contract.
And the 24-year-old opened the scoring in the 38th minute when he headed home Steven Defour’s corner and the Belgian set up a second goal when Michael Keane nodded in five minutes after the break.
This was Burnley’s second win of the season after its shock victory over Liverpool.
Burnley looked the likeliest to break the deadlock, with Watford captain Troy Deeney receiving little service up front.
His best chance came when his near-post shot was saved by England goalkeeper Tom Heaton.
The game looked as if it would still be deadlocked at 0-0 come half-time, when Dean Marney got on the end of a Johann Berg Gudmundsson shot to force a corner.
Defour’s cross then found Hendrick, who forced a header in over the line as Watford protested the corner had drifted out of play on its way into the box.
Burnley’s second came early in the second half, when a Defour corner came back to him and his cross saw Keane rise above the Watford defense.
Defour tried to get on the scoresheet himself with a 20-yard strike that Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes beat away.
Melchiorri kicks winner
In Milan, Federico Melchiorri capped a long and remarkable comeback from brain surgery when he scored his first Serie A goal in Cagliari’s 2-1 victory over Sampdoria Monday.
The match appeared set to end in a draw in Sardinia after Sampdoria midfielder Bruno Fernandes canceled out Joao Pedro’s first-half opener four minutes from time.
Two minutes later, however, Sampdoria goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano rushed out of his area to make a routine clearance but miskicked, leaving Melchiorri to fire into an empty net.
The whole team and the bench rushed over to celebrate with Melchiorri, who was making just his second top-flight appearance — 10 years after his first.
Melchiorri was sold by Siena to lower-league Sambenedettese in 2007 and then almost forced to quit football when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor two years later.
He returned, seven months later, and worked his way back to the top from the fifth division of Italian football.
Atalanta was also on six points after easing to a 3-1 win at last-place Crotone. — Agencies
