FOOTBALL – LEEDS United continued to move clear of relegation danger with a 3-1 home win over Burnley last night, which saw them climb to 14th in the Premier League standings.
Leeds advanced to 43 points from 35 games, with three fixtures still to complete, nine points clear of 18th-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
Anton Stach netted with a low long-range shot into the bottom corner in the eighth minute, catching visiting goalkeeper Martin Dubravka scrambling to get into position to give Leeds a positive start.
Two goals in four minutes soon after the break saw them make sure of the vital points.
Noah Okafor added the second after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s clever back heel put Jayden Bogle free on the right to provide the pass in the 52nd minute, and Calvert-Lewin scrambled home the third in the 56th minute after Dubravka parried Ao Tanaka’s shot.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Calvert-Lewin. “Leading from the front, high up the pitch, and we executed the game plan really well. They’ve come in playing with nothing to lose and that can be dangerous sometimes, but pleased with and proud of the boys with how we’ve performed.”
Burnley had the ball in the net in the 68th minute but Lucas Pires’ effort was chalked off for offside after a VAR check. But within three minutes Frenchman Loum Tchaouna thrashed home at the end of Jaidon Anthony’s searching pass to pull one back.
Burnley, whose relegation was confirmed when they lost 1-0 to Manchester City at Turf Moor last week, were playing a first match since this week’s departure of manager Scott Parker, with Mike Jackson again taking over in an interim role.
“We started very bad I think,” Burnley defender Maxime Esteve said. “Same from the start of the second half. After that we had some momentum, especially from maybe the 70th minute, but it’s too late. The impression was, a little bit like against Forest, sometimes when we concede some momentum every team kill us a bit and we concede. It’s very difficult to come back in the game.”
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