West Ham’s top 4 hopes suffer after Burnley draw
LONDON: Burnley began life without Sean Dyche with a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Sunday on a costly day for the Clarets as they lost midfielder Ashley Westwood to a sickening looking injury.
Westwood’s leg buckled underneath him in a routine challenge with West Ham’s Nikola Vlasic in the first-half and was given oxygen as he was stretchered off the field.
Vlasic was also in tears as he realised the seriousness of the injury which stopped play for a lengthy period.
Once the match did resume, Burnley went in front as Wout Weghorst powered home a close range header from a corner.
However, the visitors were made to rue a missed penalty from Maxwel Cornet before halftime as the Ivorian pulled his effort wide.
West Ham’s priority for the rest of the season is the Europa League with David Moyes’s men advancing to the semi-finals with an impressive 3-0 win at Lyon in midweek.
The Hammers showed signs of a European hangover but did salvage a point when Tomas Soucek forced home Manuel Lanzini’s free-kick 16 minutes from time.
A win for West Ham on Sunday would have taken them to 54 points, the same as fifth-placed Manchester United and sixthplaced Arsenal. However, West Ham have 52 points currently and are seventh.
Dyche had been the longest serving manager in the Premier League prior to his sacking on Friday with Burnley’s six-season stay in the top flight in peril.
A point closes the gap to safety to three points, but 17thplaced Everton have a game in hand to potentially extend their advantage.
Newcastle beat Leicester
Newcastle’s relegation fears have long since dissipated thanks to the club’s first transfer window under the ownership of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
And their biggest signing of the January window Bruno Guimaraes scored twice to beat Leicester 2-1 at St. James’ Park.
The Foxes took the lead as Ademola Lookman finished off a well-worked corner.
Guimaraes bundled home a corner at the other end to level and the goal was allowed to stand after a VAR review. The Brazilian headed home the winner with virtually the last touch of the game.