The Premier League witnessed an occasion brimming with goals.
Burnley found themselves twice overruled by VAR, as the club battling relegation witnessed an astonishing recovery prove insufficient in a 4-3 home loss against Brentford on a high-scoring Saturday in the Premier League.
Mikkel Damsgaard, finding himself unattended, nodded in a ninth-minute opener to put Brentford ahead, then Igor Thiago slotted into the bottom-right corner, making it 2-0 after connecting with an outstanding Damsgaard pass.
Kevin Schade, to all appearances, made the outcome certain with a straightforward strike, as Burnley suffered the consequences for neglecting to handle a lengthy throw-in.
However, an own goal by Michael Kayode during first-half added time initiated an impressive resurgence from Burnley, a recovery that persisted when Jaidon Anthony’s effort was diverted into the net by Kayode.
Zian Flemming’s header after sixty minutes saw Burnley amazingly draw level. It seemed Flemming had sealed the reversal with 12 minutes remaining, but his attempt was invalidated by VAR due to offside.
Brentford capitalized on that reprieve when Damsgaard converted Rico Henry’s cross to regain their advantage, however, that added-time goal did not signal the conclusion of the excitement.
Ashley Barnes seemed to have salvaged a point, blasting the ball into the bottom-left corner after an aerial pass into the area was headed down to him. Nevertheless, subsequent to a protracted VAR review and despite the forward’s insistence that the ball struck his chest, it was determined that Barnes had inadvertently handled it prior to finding the net.
The loss leaves Burnley eight points behind safety, with West Ham — vanquished 5-2 at Liverpool — remaining two points off the pace of Nottingham Forest. Brentford’s triumph ensures their quest for European football remains well and truly active.
Everton clinch dramatic victory at Newcastle
Everton, too, are aspiring to European football, and enhanced those ambitions by inflicting a further setback on Newcastle United’s chances with a 3-2 triumph at St James’ Park.
Newcastle’s improvement in performance ceased, their Premier League showings persisting in sharp contrast to their commendable efforts in other tournaments.
They began sluggishly against the Toffees, who have been superb away from home, and went ahead when Jarrad Branthwaite connected with a near-post corner and glanced a header in via the upright.
Jacob Ramsey equalized with his second goal for Newcastle, his shot from the fringe of the box ricocheting past a sprawling Jordan Pickford. However, just two minutes afterward, the visiting side regained their lead.
Frankly, Everton were handed their second goal, as goalkeeper Nick Pope mysteriously managed to deflect Dwight McNeil’s feeble shot from distance directly to the feet of Beto, who then smashed it in.
Beto squandered a golden opportunity to extend the lead to 3-1 when he struck the woodwork while face-to-face with Pope. It then appeared that miss would prove detrimental to Everton after Pickford was again foiled by a ricochet, as Jacob Murphy’s volley was redirected past the England goalkeeper eight minutes before the full-time whistle.
Once more, the level score did not last. Anthony Gordon was stripped of possession by Iliman Ndiaye, who then fed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall down the left. He delivered a pass for Thierno Barry to scramble into the net, despite seemingly being impeded by Lewis Hall.
Newcastle would have earned a point if not for a nominee for best save of the campaign from Jordan Pickford, who produced a moment of brilliance to tip a fierce Sandro Tonali volley onto the crossbar, thus maintaining all three points. Everton now sit eighth, three points behind Brentford, whilst Newcastle remain in a frustrating 12th position.