Leeds beat the drop as Burnley relegated
Jesse Marsch insisted he always believed Leeds would stay in the Premier League after they clinched safety on the final day of the season with a 2-1 victory against nine-man Brentford.
Leeds went into the match at the brent ford community stadium needing to better Burnley’ s result at home to Newcastle and did so as the Clarets went down 2-1.
Leeds took the lead in the second half through Raphinha’s 56th-minute spot-kick and, after substitute Sergi Canos headed an equaliser for the Bees, Jack Harrison fired an injury-time winner to ensure Leeds beat the drop.
“I believed that we were going to do this,” insisted Leeds boss Marsch afterwards. “There wasn’t one day I didn’t believe and that’s why I never talked about being in the Championship. For me this business is about belief, and about exuding it as a leader, and the other part that I had as an advantage was the group of players that we have. I believed in them.
I believed in their spirit and their resolve and I believed in their character.”
Canos picked up a needless yellow card for taking his shirt off to celebrate his equaliserand it proved crucial to the outcome. A foul on Raphinha soon after saw him pick up a second booking and his dismissal left Brentford with nine men. They had already seen Kristoffer Ajer forced off through injury after all their substitutions had been used.
Deep into added time, Leeds were finally able to capitalise on their numerical advantage, as Harrison’s drive from distance was deflected in.
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte says qualifying for the Champions League is like winning a trophy, but again refused to commit to being at the club next season.
Conte’s side clinched fourth spot with a 5-0 romp at Norwich, where Son Heung-min shared the Golden Boot with Mohamad Salah after scoring two goals. Spurs were ninth when the Italian took over in November and then seven points adrift of fourth when they lost to Burnley in February,but 10 wins from their next 14 games saw them overhaul Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham.
“I’m under contract until next summer. I signed for one year and seven months,” Conte said. “For me this is a trophy and i’ m very happy. then we’ ll see. I always said at the end of the season we’ll speak to the club and find the best solution for me and the club.”
West Ham boss David Mo yes warned his players they will be out of the door should they repeat the dismal second-half performance which cost the club a Europa League return.
The Hammers were on course to snatch sixth position from Manchester United after Michail Antonio put them ahead against Brighton.
But second-half strikes from Joel Veltman, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck earned the Seagulls a deserved 3-1 success to prevent mo yes’ men capitalising on uni ted’ s 1-0 loss at crystal palace. the east london club must now be content with a place in the europa conference League next term.
“If we’re going to play like that then we’re going to be challenging in a different part of the league,” said Moyes. "I won’t have them if they’re going to play like that.”