Ashley Barnes scored twice as Burnley put their Premier League worries on hold and progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 5-1 win over Millwall.
The 36-year-old scored his first goal of the season early on and added his second midway through the second half as the error-prone Lions handed the confident home side their most emphatic win.
Manager Scott Parker made eight changes to the side that started in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United and they did not disappoint, as further goals from Lum Chawna and Jadon Anthony put them out of sight by half-time.
Substitute Jadon Bunnell added Burnley’s fifth on the stroke of 90 minutes before the shell-shocked Lions, who had completely capitulated, scored in added time through Josh Coburn.
Loum Chaouna celebrates with his teammates after scoring Burnley’s second goal against Millwall
Burnley dominated the opening exchanges and took the lead in the 11th minute when Jacob Bruun Larsen put Barnes through and slotted past visiting keeper Steven Benda.
The Lions did little to respond and Aidomo Emakhu blasted his best chance straight at Burnley keeper Max Weiss after being released from the left by Joe Bryan.
But the visitors slowly got into the game and should have equalized when Jake Cooper headed Alfie Doughty’s cross from deep on the left but was denied by a superb save from Weiss over the arm.
The keeper made another save from Cooper on the half-hour mark as Millwall threatened to equalise, but the visitors overturned two defensive errors that put the game out of their reach.
Chowna was allowed to curl his left-footed shot from the edge of the box past a static Benda in the 35th minute, and shortly before the break, a poor clearance from the Millwall keeper eventually gave Anthony the chance to score his side’s third.
Millwall looked more lively at the start of the second half and Thierno Ballo should have done better when he found space to strike on the left side of the box, but the home side were clearly in control of the cruise control.
Chauna came close to his second when he hit the outside of Benda’s right-hand post, and the increasingly inevitable fourth arrived on 65 minutes when Kamarl Grant managed to clear Anthony’s right-wing cross and a delighted Barnes headed home.
Chasing a hat-trick, Barnes headed straight at Bend when the touchline flag was up, but it was Bunnell who completed the rout from close range before Coburn finished safely in stoppage time.