Vincent Kompany hailed Nathan Tella’s stunning hat-trick as his record-equalling Burnley side crushed Preston with a 3-0 Championship victory at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Local derbies often need a hero and Kompany had to look no further than the Southampton loanee as his brilliant afternoon secured all three points and saw Burnley win their 10th-straight league match.
That matches the club’s winning record from 1913 and few would bet against the Clarets bettering it next time out against at Watford on Tuesday.
But before then, the Manchester City great wanted to hail 23-year-old Tella for how he destroyed Burnley’s Red Rose rivals.
Kompany said: “I still call him a raw diamond. As you can see, he is still progressing.
“He has been doing really well and before anything else, I must mention his effort. It’s so important to point that out.
“He has goalscoring ability but many with that ability don’t put the work in for the team but he does. He has all the tools and helps us in so many ways, not just goalscoring.”
The Clarets began the match in the healthiest condition of any Championship side since Reading in 2005-06, who went on to finish with an impressive 106 points.
The omens were therefore excellent for Kompany’s side – who have looked a class apart this term – and when Tella took the match by the scruff of the neck, there was only ever going to be one winner.
The hosts had the lion’s share of early possession, yet both teams lacked that killer instinct in front of goal until Tella’s fine header after 15 minutes.
Preston failed to clear a Josh Brownhill corner and when Brownhill got the second chance to deliver the ball into the box, he picked out Tella, who could not miss from five yards out.
Preston struggled to lay a glove on the home side in the remainder of the first half and little changed after the interval as Kompany’s possession-heavy style came to the fore.
After 51 minutes, Anass Zaroury blazed an effort over for the home side following an errant Ben Whiteman pass but Tella did far better four minutes later, smashing the ball home from the edge of the box after turning Preston’s defence inside out.
His low-rifled shot just inched inside Freddie Woodman’s near post and, if that increased the noise inside Turf Moor, his hat-trick after 58 minutes threatened to take the roof off.
Tella stayed ice-cool to thread through Woodman’s legs to complete his treble and make it 14 goals for the season.
Afterwards, a chastened Ryan Lowe praised Burnley but was unhappy with some of his side’s defending.
The Preston manager said: “We lost the game, so it doesn’t feel good.
“I thought Burnley were fantastic in what they were doing.
“They are good goals from their behalf but from us, it could have been better.
“I don’t like losing games of football, especially derbies, but Burnley were the better team and deserved the three points.”
