Leeds Close In on Safety With Commanding Burnley Win

• Leeds beat Burnley 3-1 to move nine points clear and up to 14th
• Stach, Okafor and Calvert-Lewin score; Tchaouna nets for Burnley
• Managerless Burnley suffer fifth straight league defeat

Leeds Show Steel When It Matters

After Sunday’s Wembley sting, this was the response Daniel Farke demanded. Leeds handled their business with a calm, clinical 3-1 win over already-relegated Burnley at Elland Road, a result that leaves them nine points clear of the bottom three and breathing far easier. For those eyeing momentum on football betting sites UK, Leeds are starting to look like a side who’ve found their nerve.

They struck early. Jaka Bijol fed Anton Stach in space fully 30 yards out and the Germany midfielder drilled a skimming beauty beyond Martin Dubravka on eight minutes — Stach’s fifth in the league and a statement that Leeds had parked the FA Cup disappointment. Back in the XI after an ankle lay-off, Stach knitted things together, while Ao Tanaka twice threatened from range.

Burnley, whose drop was sealed by last week’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, stood up to the pressure before the break. Karl Darlow got down smartly to gather a deflected James Ward-Prowse effort just after half-time, but Leeds then ripped it open with two goals in four minutes. A sweeping move saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin combine with Jayden Bogle, whose cross was met first time by Noah Okafor for 2-0 on 52 minutes — the Switzerland winger’s eighth league goal, and fourth in as many matches. Moments later, Dubravka parried Tanaka’s drive and Calvert-Lewin reacted quickest to stab in his 12th of the league season.

Burnley’s Bleak Run Continues

The home crowd sensed it, belting out “We are staying up” as Elland Road exhaled. Burnley did find a response on 71 minutes, Loum Tchaouna racing onto Jaidon Anthony’s fine through ball, bullying past Pascal Struijk and finishing neatly. But Farke shut it down with the introductions of Sean Longstaff and Brenden Aaronson, and Leeds managed eight minutes of stoppage time without alarm to make it six league games unbeaten.

Managerless after parting with Scott Parker on Thursday, Burnley slid to a fifth straight league defeat and looked short of ideas. Leeds, meanwhile, showed control and a ruthlessness that’s been missing at times this season. With Andrea Radrizzani watching on, Elland Road finally had a Saturday to savour — and on this evidence, survival now feels less a scrap and more a formality, provided the focus holds.

Latest Football News