WHY SCOTT PARKER IS UNDER INTENSE PRESSURE FOLLOWING BURNLEY’S 16TH LOSS
Scott Parker is facing a "Parker Out" mutiny after Burnley’s winless streak stretched to a historic 16 league games.
West Ham closed the gap to safety to just three points and shoved Burnley even closer to relegation with a 2-0 win that left parts of the Turf Moor crowd turning on Scott Parker.
Crysencio Summerville opened the scoring—his fifth game in a row with a goal—just 13 minutes in. Taty Castellanos made it two 13 minutes later. By then, it didn’t just feel like the match was over. It felt like Burnley’s whole season was done. They’re now 11 points behind 17th place.
Burnley haven’t won in 16 league games. That’s one short of their club record from way back in 1889-90. They had a big chance at home, facing a West Ham side that had only one win in their last ten away games. Still, Burnley couldn’t get anything going. West Ham left with a win and are now right on Nottingham Forest’s heels.
Plenty of Burnley fans have lost patience. Late in the first half, Jacob Bruun Larsen tried to rally the home crowd while warming up behind the goal. Instead, he got booed with chants of “You’re not fit to wear the shirt.” Then came, “We want Parker out.”
The frustration made sense. The first half was flat, and Burnley looked nowhere near good enough to claw their way out of trouble. West Ham scored with their first two shots.
Matheus Fernandes marched through midfield and slipped a simple ball to Summerville, who raced ahead and coolly flicked it over Martin Dubravka. That made Summerville the first West Ham player to score in five straight league games since Jesse Lingard in 2021.
A dozen minutes later, Summerville’s quick touch set up Diouf to cross, and Castellanos headed it home.
You’d think Burnley would have fancied their chances against West Ham. After blowing a 2-0 lead to lose at Chelsea last weekend, Nuno Espírito Santo benched Alphonse Areola and brought in Mads Hermansen in goal.
Axel Disasi, on loan from Chelsea and yet to play a minute before January, made his debut in place of the suspended Jean-Clair Todibo. The West Ham defence looked nervous dealing with crosses, but Burnley couldn’t take advantage.
Burnley didn’t even manage a shot on target until Florentino’s effort deflected into Hermansen’s hands in the 32nd minute. Marcus Edwards tried his luck with a curling shot, but it drifted just wide.
At least Burnley showed some fight after halftime. Zian Flemming’s header was blocked, then Hermansen turned aside Edwards’ shot.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka snuffed out another Edwards chance, and after the resulting corner, Hermansen stopped a Flemming header right on the line.
But that momentum fizzled out. Jarrod Bowen really should have ended it after breaking past Humphreys, but instead of shooting, he tried to set up Summerville.
Burnley have to be thinking about life in the Championship already. As for West Ham, they’ve given themselves a real shot at staying up.
DAVID MOYES HAILS "TERRIFIC" DEWSBURY-HALL AFTER VITAL CRAVEN COTTAGE VICTORY
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall redeemed his Brighton miss with a vital goal in Everton's 2-1 win at Fulham, keeping his promise to Moyes.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made good on a promise he’d given David Moyes during the week, and his goal helped Everton pull off a comeback win at Fulham.
Last weekend at Brighton, Dewsbury-Hall blew a golden chance—he shot straight at Bart Verbruggen after Thierno Barry set him up perfectly. He told Moyes afterwards that he wouldn’t let it happen again.
At Craven Cottage, he kept his word. This time, when the ball fell to him in the box, he buried it and gave Everton the spark they needed for another solid win on the road.
Everton actually fell behind early. Vitalii Mykolenko’s own goal put Fulham up after Jordan Pickford managed to stop Raul Jimenez’s shot, only for the rebound to bounce off Mykolenko and in. That opened the door for a barrage from Fulham—Pickford had to make a couple of big saves, and both Emile Smith Rowe and Samuel Chukwueze clipped the woodwork. But Everton weathered it. Dewsbury-Hall led the charge, and his corner forced Bernd Leno into a mistake that ended up as Everton’s match-winner. They left with a 2-1 victory.
Dewsbury-Hall’s performance stood out—he’d looked sharp before hurting his hamstring at Chelsea back in December, and he’s only just getting back to his best. Moyes praised him after the game: “He’s brought something different to us. He’s been terrific. He’s nearly back to full fitness. He got about 90 minutes today, and he’s still working his way back from that hamstring injury at Stamford Bridge. He missed that big chance at Brighton, and today’s goal was almost a carbon copy. He told me this week, ‘If I get another one like that, I won’t miss it.’ And he didn’t.”
Because of a touchline ban from last week’s yellow card at Brighton, Moyes had to watch from the stands. Afterwards, he admitted Fulham edged the first half but didn’t think the gap was huge.
“I didn’t think we played well, but I don’t think we were terrible either,” he said. “We kept the ball alright for the first ten minutes, then made a couple of mistakes. The goal was just unlucky. Pickford made a great save; it bounces off Myko, what can you do?
“Fulham probably shaded the first half, but it wasn’t by much. We did well to keep it 1-0 at the break. Second half, I thought we were much better.”
DISCOVER WHY DANIEL FARKE CALLED THE FOREST WIN "A TOP PERFORMANCE
Daniel Farke describes Leeds United's 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest as "massive" as they move nine points clear of the drop zone.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke called it a “massive win” after his team beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 at Elland Road. That puts Leeds nine points clear of the relegation zone—not a bad place to be at this point in the season.
Jayden Bogle got his first Premier League goal for Leeds, and Noah Okafor added another just a few minutes later in the first half. Suddenly, Leeds had control of the game. Early in the second half, Dominic Calvert-Lewin bagged his tenth league goal of the season. Forest’s new signing, Lorenzo Lucca, did manage a late header, but it was just a consolation. Forest stays just above the drop—still not safe.
After the match, Farke didn’t try to hide his pride. “Honestly, I’m really proud. This was a tough one for us, especially after getting hammered 4-0 by Arsenal last time out. Sure, it was Arsenal, but losing always knocks your confidence a bit. It’s never easy to bounce back, and that made today tricky.
Plus, you could feel there was more at stake than just three points. Some games matter a bit more, you know? Today was one of them. And for the lads to step up like this, to play with that much energy and control—it was a top performance.
Wins like this lift everyone. The confidence, the belief, the spirit in the group—it was all there today. That’s why it’s such a huge win.”
Farke had special praise for Ilia Gruev and Noah Okafor. “Ilia looked so sharp in training this week. He’s always reliable, always gives you a solid game, but today—two assists, loads of key passes—he was just brilliant.
And Noah, that was one of his best games for us. He can take players on, he can score, and he can set things up. We know what he can do, but today he also worked so hard off the ball, winning it back. That made a big difference.”
On the other side, Forest boss Sean Dyche thought his team were just starting to get into the game when Leeds struck with those quick goals. Still, he admitted Leeds deserved the win.
“We expected them to come out fast, and I thought we handled it pretty well at first,” Dyche said. “We were having our best spell, which is why it’s so frustrating to let in that first goal—especially when we were finally putting them under pressure.
That third goal really finished us. At 2-0, you think maybe you can get one back and change the game, but then we let in another poor goal at the back.
If there’s anything positive to take, it’s that we kept fighting right to the end.”