SOCCER: PREMIER LEAGUE ACTION
Late goal gives Huddersfield a rare win
A STUNNING strike from Fabian Schar and youngster Sean Longstaff’s first goal for the club gave Newcastle United a comfortable 2-0 win over Burnley last night.
Newcastle’s fourth successive home win moved Rafa Benitez’s team up 13th place, above Burnley, whose eight game unbeaten run came to an end.
Swiss defender Schar smashed a fierce drive from 28m off the inside of the post and past helplessBurnley-keeper Tom Heaton to put the Magpies ahead in the 24th minute.
Home keeper Martin Dubravka then did well to keep out a volley from in-form Burnley striker Chris Wood after a rare spell of pressure from the visitors.
Newcastle, whose record signing Miguel Almiron impressed again, went 2-0 up when local-born midfielder Longstaff reacted well after Burnley had failed to deal with Matt Ritchie’s left-wing cross and drove low past Heaton.
Burnley defender James Tarkowski missed a great chance from close range shortly before the break, but Sean Dyche’s side were well belowpar and struggled to create chances in the second half.
It was a Newcastle performance, combining solid defensive organisation with just enough flair in attack, which showed how they have been able to pull away from mid-season troubles at the bottom of the table.
“The players deserve a lot of credit, we knew it would be a tough game against a physical team,” said Benitez.
Dyche conceded his side may have suffered from their exertions in their 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday: “I don’t want to be too critical we just didn’t have the fight we have had recently. Credit to Newcastle,” he said.
In Leicester’s match against Brighton and Hove Albion last night, newly-appointed manager Brendan Rodgers watched from the stands as the Foxes returned to form with a 2-1 win over Brighton.
Leicester needed only 10 minutes to take the lead as Demarai Gray was played in by Youri Tielemans and finished in style past Brighton keeper, Mathew Ryan.
Gray was denied a second by Ryan as Leicester, who sacked manager Claude Puel at the weekend after a run of five defeats and a draw, began at a fast tempo but the visitors reached half-time with no further damage.
Glenn Murray wasted a great chance to equalise before Jamie Vardy made it 2-0. An assist from James Maddison found Vardy and the England striker lashed a low shot past Ryan to double Leicester’s lead just past the hour.
Brighton responded quickly though and reduced the deficit three minutes later as Davy Propper rifled a shot past Kasper Schmeichel after wrong-footing Tielemans.
Leicester hung on to claim the win to leave Brighton peering anxiously over their shoulders near the bottom.
Bottom club, Huddersfield Town earned their third Premier League win of the season as a stoppage-time goal from Steve Mounie gave them a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last night.
Huddersfield had piled on the pressure in the second half but were unable to find a way through until Aaron Mooy’s cross found Karlan Grant at the back post.
Grant’s shot was saved by Wolves keeper Rui Patricio, but Mounie pounced on the loose ball to bundle home the winner.
Huddersfield have 14 points but remain in last place, 11 points behind 17th placed Cardiff City, but German manager Jan Siewert was delighted with his first win since taking over from David Wagner in January.
“The staff, all the people working here deserve credit. You can feel the atmosphere of celebration. The first win is always special. The people working here are so brilliant, I am proud to be a part of them,” he said.
In the Welsh capital, Gylfi Sigurdsson deepened Cardiff City’s Premier League relegation fears with two well-taken goals in Everton’s 3-0 victory last night. Sigurdsson is now the leading Icelandic goalscorer in the Premier League, moving two clear of the 55 scored by former Chelsea player Eidur Gudjohnsen.
A first half low on quality was illuminated by one flowing move in the 41st minute which ended with Sigurdsson firing low into the corner after being picked out by Seamus Coleman.
Cardiff showed more tenacity in the second half, but were deflated in the 65th minute when Sigurdsson lashed home his second of the night past Neil Etheridge.
A bad night for Neil Warnock’s Cardiff got worse when Dominic Calvert-Lewin got his name on the scoresheet in stoppage time to complete a comfortable Everton victory after three consecutive league defeats for Marco Silva’s side.
“It was an important three points,” the Everton boss, who has found himself under pressure, said.
“After the second goal I saw our players playing with more freedom, with more confidence and in that moment you could see the kind of football we can play.”
Cardiff have conceded eight goals at home in two games, having been thrashed 5-1 by Watford last Friday and are one place and a point above the relegation zone. They will drop into the bottom three, however, if Southampton beat Fulham at home today. | African News Agency (ANA)