'That kid' - Vincent Kompany left blown away by Everton star immediately after Burnley victory

Burnley boss Vincent Kompany saluted the performance of ‘really promising’ Jarrad Branthwaite after Everton’s victory over Burnley.

The Toffees earned a first win in 14 Premier League games with a 1-0 triumph over the Clarets at Goodison Park. Dominic Calvert-Lewis bagged the only goal of the game in first-half stoppage-time when he charged down Arijanet Muric’s clearance.

Everton limited Burnley to just one shot on target throughout the encounter. Branthwaite made several important blocks for the Blues as the 21-year-old defender yet again enhanced his burgeoning reputation.

Sean Dyche’s side are up to 15th in the table, four points above the bottom three, while Burnley took another step closer to relegation. But Kompany was magnanimous in defeat and heaped praise on Branthwaite’s performance.

Clarets boss Burnley said at his post-match press conference: “Full credit to Everton. If that kid Branthwaite keeps putting his body on the line like this, I can’t keep telling my strikers... the kid is sliding across like five times and is doing really well. Tarki [James Tarkowski] is doing a really good job in the backline and they’ve done that really well.

“When looking at this game, maybe you need that extra bit of zip, shift your feet to get a shot. But if I’d have told you all of the games we’ve played, which would have been hardest to come to a shot, it would have been this game. Credit where it’s due. I said it to the bench a couple of times, they defend their box really well and I thought we did as well today.”

Asked about Branthwaite’s potential, Kompany added: “I’m not even saying it because he’s a young defender and it’s important to stay away from the hype sometimes but it’s a really objective analysis. It was a performance where my strikers did so well and he gets back. Sometimes his team-mates get beaten and he reads it to go and cover. It’s a side of the game he has that is really promising for the future.”