DONYELL Malen made sure Unai Emery celebrated his 150th game as Aston Villa boss with a fourth in a row.
The Dutchman fired home two goals as Villa put their shaky start to the season behind them.
And they would have won by more but for a series of saves from Martin Dubravka.
Malen has been a low profile figure since his £19.4million move from Borussia Dortmund in January.
This was only his fourth Premier League start after going 14 games without a goal for Emery
But he dominated the attack at Villa Park - and had the Holte End singing his name.
Emery also rewrote the Villa Park record books - this was the Spanish boss’ 80th win, and he is the quickest manager to reach that figure in the club’s history.
Burnley sub Lesley Ugochukwu headed home in the 78th minute to give Villa an uncomfortable end to the game.
But Malen’s goals were enough for Villa.
It is all a far cry from last month when a failure to win games and score goals set the alarm bells ringing.
An upheaval in recruitment behind the scenes also caused some concern.
But Emery has come out of it stronger than ever.
And it looks like he is finally getting the best out of Malen - who was left out of Villa’s Champions League squad last season shortly after signing.
He grabbed his first goal to round off a period of Villa pressure which saw Ezri Konsa denied by a flying save from Martin Dubravka.
But Villa went ahead after 25 minutes with a goal that owed as much to Boubacar Kamara’s vision as Malen’s finishing.
Kamara produced a searing ball from his own half - and that was the signal for Malen to show his pace.
The Villa forward was forced wide by Burnley defender Maxime Esteve but still managed to score with an angled drive.
But Scott Parker’s side are a tough side to beat and they twice tested Villa keeper Emi Martinez in the opening 35 minutes.
The Argentina star stopped Quilindschy Hartman early on before keeping out a Josh Cullen shot from the edge of the area.
Emery’s side appealed for a penalty just before the break when former Villa defender Axel Tuanzebe appeared to pull back Morgan Rogers - but ref Andrew Kitchen waved it away and a VAR checked backed the decision.
Ollie Watkins turned and fired over the bar before the break - but Malen was at the heart of Villa’s raids.
He was involved again as Rogers followed up and was denied by another Dubravka.
But Malden netted his second goal just after the hour.
Lamare Bogarde set up Rogers who fed Malen - and he produced another shot into the far corner.
Matty Cash then lined up a repeat of his goal at Sunderland - only for his shot to be deflected for a corner.
But Burnley pulled one back with a goal that clearly disappointed Emery.
Ugochukwu was allowed a free header from Hartman’s corner to give Parker’s men some hope.
Replays showed that Konsa had been blocked off in the six yard box - but the goal stood.
But Dubravka’s saves kept Burnley within touching distance of Villa - and he pulled off a spectacular last minute stop to stop Lucas Digne making it three
There was concern at the end for Villa sub Emi Buendia after Burnley’s Flemming caught him in the face with his elbow as the pair challenged for the ball.
The Argentine forward - who had scored in Villa’s two previous games - needed several minutes’ treatment as he lay on his back following the incident.
A stretcher was called - but it was not needed.
Villa fans clearly blamed Dutchman Flemming for the seriousness of the incident - and he stared at the supporters before going to Buendia to apologise as he was helped off the field.
But Flemming was not even shown a yellow card - a decision Villa fans did not agree with as they booed the player’s every touch afterwards.
