Milutin Osmajic taunted Burnley fans after his goal helped Preston into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1966 with a 3-0 win at Deepdale.
Osmajic got Preston’s second late in the first half after Robbie Brady’s outstanding free-kick had put North End in front in the 31st minute, and Will Keane added a third midway through the second half as Preston put an emphatic end to Burnley’s 23-game unbeaten run.
It was only the second time Scott Parker’s promotion hopefuls had conceded more than once in a game this season, the other a 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Wolves in August.
It had seemed inevitable Osmajic should play a leading role in the drama of this all-Championship tie.
When these two sides met in Preston in the league two weeks ago, the match ended with Clarets midfielder Hannibal Mejbri accusing Osmajic of racially abusing him, allegations which Osmajic denies and remain the subject of an FA investigation.
Parker left Hannibal out of his matchday squad in order to protect the 22-year-old, one of nine changes to the side that thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 last week, but Paul Heckingbottom kept Osmajic in.
The issue dominated the build-up to this game, setting the tone for a tetchy encounter as Burnley players refused to shake the Montenegrin’s hand before kick off.
Osmajic was straight into the action, flashing a shot narrowly wide inside 20 seconds, but chances proved hard to come by for both sides, hardly a surprise given that both league meetings this season ended in 0-0 draws.
Burnley, on a run of 12 straight clean sheets in the league, had not conceded since their 3-1 FA Cup third-round win at Reading, and when their defence was breached for the first time in more than 850 minutes it was through a set-piece after Lucas Pires chopped down Brad Potts.
Twenty-five yards out, Brady bent his shot up and over the Burnley wall to find the top left corner of the net and register his first Preston goal in more than a year.
The Clarets should have levelled four minutes before the break with their best chance of the game. Luca Koleosho picked up the pieces after Lyle Foster was dispossessed, bursting into the box but then pulling his left-footed shot wide of the target.
Instead it was Preston who doubled their lead.
Burnley seemed to stop, expecting to hear John Brooks’ whistle after Josh Brownhill’s pass hit Ryan Ledson in the face, flooring the Preston man, but play went on and Potts’ ball split the visiting defence as Osmajic ran through to score, cupping his ears to the Burnley fans as he celebrated.
The visitors had another big chance to get one back in first-half added time when Freddie Woodman failed to deal with Jonjo Shelvey’s free-kick, but Kaine Kesler-Hayden got in a crucial block to keep out Koleosho’s shot.
Preston tails stayed up as they applied early pressure in the second half, and they should really have gone three up just before the hour when Kesley-Hayden had space on the counter-attack, only to shoot over the bar.
Burnley looked uncharacteristically rattled, and Osmajic almost intercepted Maxime Esteve’s back-header before Vaclav Hladky punched it away.
Parker made a string of changes and substitute Zian Flemming threatened in the 65th minute with a bending shot which Woodman palmed clear.
But there would be no denying Preston. Moments later Andrew Hughes, just on to replace Brady, sent in a cross from the left and Keane arrived to poke the ball beyond Hladky.
Emil Riis almost poked in a fourth for Preston in added time but Heckingbottom’s side had already done enough to put their name in the hat, with Burnley left to refocus on their promotion push.
