Burnley substitute Ashley Barnes shot his side into an unlikely Champions League spot with a late winner in the torrential rain at Turf Moor.
With the pressure mounting on Stoke boss Mark Hughes whose side slip ever closer to the relegation zone, Barnes fired home in the 89th minute to continue The Clarets fairytale.
Jack Cork’s long ball was flicked on initially by Barnes to Scott Arfield and the forward then turned quickly to collect the return pass and fire home.
Ashley Barnes sends Sean Dyche’s Burnley flying into the top four with a late strike to earn a 1-0 victory over Stoke
Barnes was sent on in the 71st minute before making his mark on the game less than five minutes before the full-time whistle
Stoke continue their struggles in the bottom half after having a point snatched from their clutches by Barnes
Burnley move above Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal into a Champions League spot and remain just four behind Chelsea
Potters boss Mark Hughes left the Turf Moor dugout with his side languishing narrowly above the relegation zone
MATCH FACTS, RATINGS, TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
Line ups
Burnley (4-4-2)
Pope 7; Bardsley 6, Long 6, Tarkowski 6.5, Ward 7 (Taylor 41 6.5); Gudmondsson 6.5, Arfield 6.5, Defour 6.5, Cork 6; Hendrick 5.5 (Barnes 71 6); Wood 5.5 (Vokes 81)
Subs not used: Lindegaard (Gk), Westwood, Ulvestad, Wells
Stoke (4-2-3-1)
Butland 6; Cameron 5.5, Zouma 6.5 (Wimmer 66 6), Shawcross 6,5, Pieters 6; Fletcher 6, Allen 7; Shaqiri 7.5 (Choupo-Moting 83), Diouf 6.5, Sobhi 5.5; Crouch 6.5
Subs not used: Grant (Gk), Berahino,Afellay, Adam, Edwards
Referee: Michael Jones 6.5
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Ashley Barnes came off the bench for Burnley to strike a historic late winner to see Sean Dyche’s side into the top four.
For more key match facts, visit Sportsmail’s exclusive Match Zone.
It was a fine goal out of keeping with a dreadful match but Sean Dyche will point to understudy goalkeeper Nick Pope keeping his eighth clean sheet in 14 league games to show why his side are riding high.
Meanwhile, Hughes will bemoan his team missing the game’s best chance when 36-year-old Peter Crouch hit the woodwork early on.
Both sides on show have had extremely contrasting seasons.
Burnley sit proudly in fourth going toe-to-toe with Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham for European places.
However, Stoke preside over the worst defensive record in the division and their players were barracked by their own supporters on the train journey back following their 5-1 beating at Spurs on Saturday.
This was an improved performance from The Potters but not where it counted, in front of goal. Hughes has patient owners but will know Saturday’s game against West Ham could be crucial particularly with former boss Tony Pulis currently out of work.
Hughes’ side had won just once in their last five matches, including a 5-1 thrashing at Tottenham on the weekend
Sean Dyche’s high-flying Burnley were playing for a temporary top four spot while Stoke continue their relegation battle
Potters defender Kurt Zouma holds his head in his hands after coming close to giving the visitors the lead
Three Burnley players surround the giant figure of Peter Crouch as they attempt to dispossess the Stoke striker
Joe Allen holds off the challenge made by Burnley striker Chris Wood as the visitors dominate the early exchanges
Jeff Hendrick is hit hard Stoke defender Geoff Cameron in the first half resulting in a free kick to the home side
The visitors were the brighter team for long periods.
Xherdan Shaqiri tested Pope from 25 yards and the Burnley goalkeeper then had to push a Crouch header at the far post onto the woodwork. The busy keeper was quickly in action again to deny Kurt Zouma. Man-of-the-match Shaqiri then fed Diouf whose shot from eight yards skimmed the roof of the net.
Dyche’s resources are being stretched with internationals Tom Heaton, Robbie Brady and Jonathan Walters all missing through injury, alongside first-choice defenders Matt Lowton and Ben Mee.
What you can’t deny is Burnley’s mentality. Despite not having a shot on target until midway through the second half, they didn’t waver.
Stephen Ward had a memorable duel with Shaqiri and when he limped off after 41 minutes, replacement Charlie Taylor also stuck to his task.
After half-an-hour, Stoke led 5-0 in shots on goal; and 4-1 on the corner count. But as spin doctor Alistair Campbell, renowned Clarets fan and interested spectator, would have pointed out, the scoreline remained level.
Stoke’s failure to make their superiority count won’t have surprised statisticians. Only Manchester City and Manchester United have better defensive records than Burnley, while Stoke’s problems in front of goal mean Crouch and Diouf are joint top-scorers with only four, and £15million forward Saido Berahino hadn’t found the back of the net since signing in January.
To try and break the deadlock, Diouf tried to use his hand Thierry Henry-style to burst between two Burnley defenders at the start of the second half. Referee Michael Jones wasn’t fooled, though it was strange why he didn’t pull out the yellow card to accompany his whistle.
Shaqiri went the more conventional route with a pop from 20 yards but it lacked the venom of some of his more spectacular efforts and landed in the gloves of Pope.
By this stage, Burnley hadn’t registered a shot on target and even their patient fans had started to grumble as they sat frozen in their seats.
Clarets striker Chris Wood fails at an overhead kick attempt as the home side fail to register shot on target in the first half
Shaqiri lets his frustrations out after the Switzerland international endures an unusually quiet first half
Stephen Ward receives treatment before being prematurely withdrawn, but is able to walk himself off the Turf Moor pitch
Ward is forced to exit the pitch as manager Dyche elects to replace him with Charlie Taylor five minutes before the break
Ramadan Sobhi wastes one of Stoke’s numerous attempts on the Burnley goal in the first half as he blasts wide
Hughes exchanges word with referee Michael Jones as both sides go in at half time having battled out a goalless first half
It’s a strange quirk that Stoke hadn’t won an away game in the top-flight on a Tuesday since 1906. And they must have feared the worst when Zouma pulled a hamstring midway through the second half as he challenged Wood.
A concerned Hughes immediately sent on Kevin Wimmer to replace the limping Dutchman.
At last, Burnley tested Butland for the first time after 69 minutes though he gathered Steven Defour’s half-volley from distance comfortably enough.
Dyche tried to give his side some impetus by sending on forwards Sam Vokes and Barnes for the closing stages and the gamble paid off.
Crouch had half-a-sniff with three minutes left but couldn’t twist his 6ft7ins frame around the ball from Diouf’s knockdown.
So Burnley went down the other end and took advantage of Stoke’s reshuffled defence missing Zouma. Barnes showed more strength initially to win a 50-50 and then showed terrific composure in front of goal to fire the ball past Butland.
Crouch climbs above substitute Taylor but his efforts fall short as centre half James Tarkowski wins the header
Defender Zouma becomes the second casualty as he follows Burnley’s Ward off injured and is replaced by Kevin Wimmer
Cameron gets a taste of his own medicine as Scott Arfield puts in a tough challenge while both struggle to find an opener
Stoke’s Crouch had a late effort denied by Nick Pope shortly before Barnes nailed the winning goal for the Clarets
Hughes consoles a disappointed and wasteful Stoke side as they leave the Clarets Turf Moor stadium empty handed