RELEGATION WARNING: BURNLEY SIT EIGHT POINTS FROM SAFETY AFTER HEARTBREAKING VAR GOAL REJECTION
Chaos at Burnley: Get the report on Kayode’s double deflection, Brentford’s 3-0 collapse, and the late Damsgaard header.
Brentford looked unstoppable in the first half. Mikkel Damsgaard, Igor Thiago, and Kevin Schade all scored inside thirty minutes, putting Brentford firmly in control. But Burnley didn’t just roll over. Jaidon Anthony’s shot, deflected in off Michael Kayode, pulled one back before halftime. Then, right after the break, Anthony did it again – another shot, another Kayode deflection – and suddenly it was 3-2. Zian Flemming’s header made it three-all, and just like that, the game was wide open again.
Damsgaard wasn’t done, though. With just minutes left, he headed in the winner and sent the Brentford fans into a frenzy. Brentford took all three points back to London and finally broke their long winless streak at Turf Moor, a run going all the way back to 1996. Not only that, but they managed a league double over Burnley for the first time since 1936.
The match started with Burnley pressing high, trying to unsettle Brentford’s defence. But Brentford struck first; Ouattara swung in a corner, and Damsgaard, somehow left alone, nodded it home. Igor Thiago almost added a second right after, only for Dubravka to get down and stop it.
Burnley tried to hit back; Anthony went close, and Bruun Larsen played in Humphreys, but Brentford’s keeper Valdimarsson was ready. Then Brentford turned up the heat. Thiago set up Ouattara on the overlap, and though Schade couldn’t finish, Thiago made no mistake moments later. He finished off a slick pass from Damsgaard for his 18th league goal this season.
Brentford’s third came soon after. Kayode hurled a long throw, Ajer headed goalwards, Humphreys scrambled to clear, but the ball fell straight to Schade. He smashed it into the empty net. Burnley’s fans let the team know how they felt; chants about the manager’s job started ringing around the ground.
Burnley found a lifeline just before halftime. Laurent picked out Anthony, and his shot bounced in off Kayode. Then, right after the restart, Anthony did it again – another deflection off poor Kayode. Suddenly, Brentford’s lead was gone. A few minutes later, Hannibal floated a cross into the box, and Flemming headed it in to tie things up. Burnley, for the first time all afternoon, looked like they might actually win.
They thought they’d done it too. Anthony found space, crossed for Flemming, and he headed home, but VAR caught Anthony just offside. The crowd groaned. From there, the match settled down. Both teams looked tired. With just three minutes left, Damsgaard popped up to head in Brentford’s winner. The away section erupted.
Burnley did put the ball in the net again before the final whistle, but VAR stepped in one more time. Ashley Barnes had handled the ball before scoring, so the goal was chalked off.
Brentford stay seventh, keeping a three-point cushion over Everton as the race for Europe heats up. Burnley are still eight points from safety, with Nottingham Forest playing tomorrow.
Player of the Match? Hannibal Mejbri. Damsgaard was brilliant for Brentford, but Hannibal dragged Burnley back into the contest and almost helped them snatch a huge win.
RED CARD MYSTERY: WHAT DID DANIEL FARKE SAY TO THE REFEREE AT FULL-TIME?
Daniel Farke was sent off at full-time as Leeds United fell 1-0 to Man City despite multiple missed chances by Calvert-Lewin.
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Leeds United faced off against Manchester City under the Elland Road lights, hoping to keep their impressive home record alive. The atmosphere was electric, and Leeds started strong. Just four minutes in, they should've been ahead. Jayden Bogle slipped a perfect pass down the right, Brenden Aaronson whipped in a great ball, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin found himself unmarked six yards out. Somehow, he sent his shot wide.
That was only the beginning for Leeds. They kept creating chances. Calvert-Lewin spun past Marc Guehi in the box but fired narrowly wide. Aaronson had another go, poking a shot wide off another Bogle cross. Their best opportunity, aside from Calvert-Lewin’s miss, came when Anton Stach sent Aaronson through one-on-one. The American’s first touch let him down, and Gianluigi Donnarumma scooped up the ball.
City barely got a sniff early on, pressed back by Leeds’ energy. But once they settled, Pep Guardiola’s side found its feet and carved out a couple of decent openings. Filling in for the injured Erling Haaland, Omar Marmoush forced a sharp save out of Karl Darlow with a low shot from the left. Seconds later, Nico O’Reilly wasted a free header, aiming it straight at Darlow.
Pascal Struijk then came up big, cutting out a dangerous Marmoush chance after O’Reilly sliced open the defence. The first half looked set to finish goalless until Rayan Cherki produced a bit of magic in stoppage time. He sliced through the Leeds back line with a gorgeous pass, finding Rayan Ait-Nouri down the left. Ait-Nouri’s cross found Antoine Semenyo, who crashed home from close range. City up 1-0 at the break.
No changes after halftime. Leeds kept pushing. Stach picked out Calvert-Lewin on the left, but Matheus Nunes blocked the shot, forcing a corner. City struck back with a quick chance of their own; Nunes crossed for Marmoush, who flashed his shot wide. Marmoush was in the thick of it again as the hour mark passed, stretching to meet a Ruben Dias cross-shot but sending it well wide.
City started turning the screw. Ait-Nouri smashed a shot just over the top corner, and Semenyo forced a deflection for a corner. From there, Darlow pulled off a brilliant save to deny Marc Guehi’s header.
Farke tried to shake things up. Lukas Nmecha came on for Aaronson, then Dan James and Willy Gnonto entered for Bogle and Gruev. Leeds switched to a back four and threw everything forward. Gnonto got stuck in right away, helping whip in a series of crosses as the crowd roared, desperate for an equaliser.
James swung in a beauty from the left, and late sub Jaka Bijol rose highest, but his header flew wide. That was Leeds’ last real chance. They threw bodies forward in the final minutes, but couldn’t find a way through and felt robbed when a strong penalty shout for handball went ignored.
City managed the final six minutes of stoppage time, hanging onto their narrow lead. Even then, the drama wasn’t over. As soon as the final whistle blew, Daniel Farke stormed onto the pitch to confront referee Peter Bankes. Bankes didn’t hesitate, flashing a red card and sending the Leeds boss off.
SCOTT PARKER LABELS LATE ASHLEY BARNES HANDBALL DECISION AS "SO HARSH."
Burnley 3-4 Brentford: Read Scott Parker’s reaction to the VAR drama, Ashley Barnes’ disallowed goal, and his "pure pride" today.
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Scott Parker couldn’t hide his pride, even after Burnley’s gut-wrenching loss to Brentford. He didn’t get too deep into the late VAR drama; either he just didn’t want to.
Honestly, that doesn’t even cover how wild this match was. Drama everywhere. Burnley had not one but two goals chalked off. They clawed their way back from three goals down, somehow levelled it at 3-3, only to see all that hard work undone at the very end.
When someone asked Parker if he felt robbed by those bizarre VAR calls (which dragged the game out forever), he just shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he said.
“We’ve had some tough results this year, and I’ve talked about disappointment and frustration before. I’ve probably even said I was proud of the team when we got a result.
“But today? Today, I just feel pure pride. More than ever, actually. I’m proud of these players, of everything they did out there.
“Sure, we picked our game apart. We were harsh at halftime, and we needed to be. We started slow. We were soft in too many moments. But the way this group responded – their spirit, their determination, the way they fought back – I can’t help but feel proud.”
After the final whistle, Burnley fans were furious. Ashley Barnes thought he’d equalised, but VAR ruled it out for an accidental handball. Watching the replays, nobody could say for sure whether the ball even touched his arm.
Parker didn’t have much to say on the incident. “Honestly, I haven’t even seen it back,” he said. “I caught it on the big screen. It looked like his hand was by his side.
“I don’t want to go too far; someone will quote me, and maybe I’m wrong, but it just feels so, so harsh.
“We scored five goals in about an hour, which is incredible when you think about it.
“We got ourselves back in it. But this is the world we’re in now. Everyone’s chasing perfection, whether it’s the game or just a photo you take of yourself. That’s football now.
“So, the first goal’s offside by a tiny margin. That’s just how it is. When you have the technology, you can always fall back on it. Well, it’s the correct decision. ’ Depends what you want, really. Yeah, it’s disappointing.”
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