No time to Bi partying just yet
Marcelo Bielsa refusedefused to get carried away afterfterLeedsLeeds thrashed Fulham m 3- 0 to move clear at the top.
Goal s f rom Pat Patr r ick Bamford, Ezgjan Alioski lioski and Jack Harrison sealed ed thewin the win as Leeds moved eight ghtpoints points clear of third place. e.
But Bielsa said: “ThThereareThereare 21 points left – eight ght isn’t a definitive difference. nce.
“In the first half theyweretheywere better than us. After we scored it was tough.h. ThTheThe key was to correct the mistakes and in the secondd half the reality was the opposite.”
Bamford struck with a cool finish before substitute Alioski hit a low second and Harrison wrapped it up on the counter.
Fulham’s Neeskens Kebano was sent off late on.
Ashley Fletcher and Marcus Tavernier scored as new Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock got off to a winning start in a crucial 2- 0 triumph at Stoke.
Gary Gardner netted a late leveller in a six- goal thriller as struggling Hull l e t the lead sl ip at Birmingham City.
The Belgian drilled in Jonny’s pass midway through the second half to settle this derby and move his side up to fifth.
It could have got worse for Villa but Diogo Jota fired a glorious first-half chance over after keeper Orjan Nyland’s throw fell to him.
Boss Nuno Espirito Santo was delighted for goal hero Dendoncker but refused to talk directly about their Champions League hopes.
He said: “I’m happy for Leander. He is a fantastic player, a hard worker and gives us so much.
“To have this moment is important for him and us.
“Villa caused us a lot of tough problems and I’m very pleased with the performance of the team. We know what is in front of us and it’s important to sustain that level of performance. Let’s kick on.”
Villa managed just one shot on target and the defeat left them in the bottom three after their fourth game since the restart.
Boss Dean Smith feels the schedule has been tough on his side but insists they will keep up the fight for topflight survival.
He said: “It’s ridiculous to ask players to play that amount of games in a short space of time.
“There’s lot of belief in the dressing room and we’ll stay up by f ighting, working hard, being as solid as we have been and when we are fresh, hopefully, showing a bit more quality in the final third.”