Scott Parker insisted winning was all that mattered after Burnley lost the chance to create an English football record by conceding in a 2-1 victory at Cardiff.
Burnley had kept 12 successive clean sheets in the Sky Bet Championship since Watford scored against them on December 21.
Manchester United’s league record of 14 straight shut outs, set between November 2008 and February 2009 was in danger, but the Clarets fell short when Cardiff striker Yousef Salech halved Burnley’s lead just before the interval.
It was the first goal Parker’s side had conceded in the league for 1,132 minutes.
Asked whether he was disappointed at missing out on beating United’s record, Burnley boss Parker said: “Not really. It’s a shame we conceded, but the most important thing is we won.
“We pride ourselves on being rock solid but our main focus is on winning games.
“I was surprised with the way it (Cardiff goal) went in. It was a little bit uncharacteristic, we were sloppy turning the ball over in that area.
“We’ll see where we can fix that, but overall I’m immensely proud of the team.”
Close-range finishes from Josh Brownhill and Maxime Esteve had put the Clarets in command after 40 minutes but Salech headed home to give Cardiff hope.
It was central defender Esteve’s first goal since joining from Montpellier in January 2024, and in doing so he became the 20th Burnley player to score in the league this season – a club record.
Burnley now trail second-placed Sheffield United by two points and are five adrift of leaders Leeds with 11 games left to play.
Parker said: “I’m pleased with the three points. We gave them a bit of hope with the goal, but at the end you need resilience and the ability to dig in and we had that.
“I thought the energy was impressive. We looked like a proper team who understood their roles. At times you have to grind and dig in and get the results.”
Cardiff dropped to 21st after Hull’s win over Plymouth and remain five points above the relegation zone.
Bluebirds boss Omer Riza said: “You can’t give away goals the way we did. It was poor, we were not sharp enough in those moments.
“We scored the goal and that gave us a lifeline. We tried to get after them a little bit more and I thought we were better than them second half.
“We had our chances against a good side that don’t concede goals, but the bottom line is we don’t pick up any points.
“I’m disappointed because I thought we were worth a point but we gave ourselves too much to do.”
