Chris Eagles came off the bench to inspire Burnley to a deserved victory over Coventry at the Ricoh Arena.
Burnley take maximum points at the Ricoh Arena
Chris Eagles came off the bench to inspire Burnley to a deserved victory over Coventry at the Ricoh Arena.
The hosts had taken the lead through Elliott Ward's 40th minute penalty, but were unable to hang on as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat.
Michael Duff pulled one back for the Clarets six minutes into the second half, before Eagles set up Robbie Blake to fire home two minutes from time.
Eagles then rounded off a spectacular 20-minuet cameo when he rounded off the scoring moments later.
The hosts had begun brightly with Michael Mifsud lively in attack, but it was the visitors who created the first real chance of the game in the seventh minute.
Winger Wade Elliott delivered a dangerous corner from the right which was met by Chris McCann who saw his header fly just over the bar.
The Clarets continued to press and Martin Paterson brought a smart save out of goalkeeper Keiren Westwood with a firm strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 10th minute.
Ambitious
Coventry enjoyed a spell of possession as the game continued and Freddy Eastwood struck a shot from 25 yards out in the 31st minute but the ball was off-target.
Michael Doyle saw a similarly ambitious, albeit weaker, attempt from long-range fail to test Brian Jensen four minutes later.
Chris Coleman's side, though, were then handed a chance to take the lead from the penalty spot five minutes before the interval when Alexander, making his 700th league start, brought down Malta international Mifsud inside the box and referee Mike Thorpe pointed to the spot.
Ward took the resulting spot-kick and he placed the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net while Duff was booked for his earlier protests.
The hosts were dealt a blow moments before half-time when they lost midfielder Jay Tabb, who had been struggling with a knee problem during the week, and was replaced by Robbie Simpson.
Owen Coyle's side began the second half positively and almost levelled within two minutes of the restart when Steven Caldwell's cross was met by the head of Joey Gudjonsson only for Westwood to save.
A determined Burnley continued to dominate and were rewarded for their endeavour with an equaliser in the 51st minute through Duff.
Rampant
The Northern Ireland defender created a shooting opportunity inside the penalty area and lashed a left-footed shot past Westwood and high into the net.
The visitors were now rampant and Gudjonsson and Elliott both saw long-range efforts go narrowly wide in the minutes immediately after the goal as Alexander continued to shield the Clarets back four.
Coventry responded and should have regained their lead in the 72nd minute when Daniel Fox delivered a dangerous corner but Scott Dann could only direct a weak header wide of the goal.
Coleman introduced Clinton Morrison for the largely ineffective Leon Best and he almost had an impact in the 77th minute after he was picked out by Fox but could only hit his close-range shot straight at Jensen.
Eastwood then went close moments later but it was Burnley who would take the points late in the game thanks to 71st-minute substitute Eagles.
The former Manchester United winger supplied an intelligent ball for Blake to strike the ball past Westwood and into the net in the 88th minute.
Eagles then grabbed a goal himself two minutes later when he lashed a spectacular 20-yard strike into the top-right corner of the net to seal the points for the visitors.
