Relegation threatened Burnley hold Man United to a 1 – 1 draw

Burnley’s survival hopes received a huge boost after it held Manchester United to a stalemate at Old Trafford, with Zeki Amdouni’s late penalty earning the Clarets a point that inches Vincent Kompany’s men a little closer to pulling off a great escape.

Adrift of safety and knowing Nottingham Forest and Luton play fellow basement dwellers next weekend, Burnley realistically needed to leave Old Trafford with something to show for their efforts to boost their survival hopes.

Those hopes almost took an instant hit though, when Alejandro Garnacho was afforded too much space at the far post, but he was leaning back and his strike drifted harmlessly over the bar.

United were firmly on top in the opening stages, and they came even closer shortly after when Antony broke in behind, only to see his effort drift narrowly wide of the post.

A United opener only seemed a matter of time away when they came even closer midway through the first half, with Bruno Fernandes watching on with anguish as his effort crashed back off the post.

That seemed to be the wake-up call Burnley needed, as it was then their turn to land a couple of blows, with Wilson Odobert’s effort forcing an acrobatic stop out of Andre Onana, before Lyle Foster’s header saw the Cameroonian produce an even smarter stop.

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It was all Burnley towards the end of the opening 45, but they simply couldn’t make their pressure count, with Onana again keeping United in the game by denying Foster one-on-one.

You sensed there was always a likelihood the Clarets would be made to pay for their missed chances, and they were almost made to do so within minutes of the restart. Fortunately for Kompany’s men, Arijanet Muric produced a fine stop to deny Antony after he was smartly set up by Garnacho.

It was a rather strange feeling for both sides as the game approached its latter stages – largely because both desperately needed the win for very different causes.

United looked the likelier of the two to find what would’ve been a huge winner, yet the irrepressible Muric was doing his level best to ensure that wouldn’t be the case, producing another impressive stop to deny Garnacho.

There was always a sense of inevitability that Muric would eventually get beaten, and so it proved a little over 10 minutes from time.

It was in gift-like fashion too, as Antony read Sander Berge’s blind pass, strode clear on goal and slotted into the bottom corner.

Unwilling to lie down though, a moment of madness from Onana, who clattered Amdouni, afforded the Swiss international the chance to score from the spot – one he duly accepted to earn Burnley a deserved point in the desperate battle to beat the drop and dent United’s top six hopes in the process.

Relegation threatened Burnley hold Man United to a 1 – 1 draw

Liverpool draw West Ham as title hopes slip

Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes seem all but over as Michail Antonio scored to rescue a point for West Ham at London Stadium.

Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring just before the break when he rose highest to meet Mohammed Kudus’ cross into the area as Liverpool showed little evidence that their Merseyside derby loss in midweek had done much in the way of spurring them on.

But the visitors were much improved in the second half and Andy Robertson equalised when he scored from Luis Diaz’s low pass into the penalty area.

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They were then rewarded for their pressure when Cody Gakpo’s effort from a corner bounced off Angelo Ogbonna, Tomas Soucek and Alphonse Areola before finding the back of the net.

It looked like they were on their way to bouncing back from back-to-back defeats in the league until Antonio’s thumping header put the Hammers back on level terms.

Liverpool sit third in the table with three games remaining, two points behind leaders Arsenal, who face Tottenham on Sunday, while Manchester City are second but have two games in hand.

Liverpool’s title hopes appear to be all but over, with the Reds relying on both of their title rivals to slip up to get back in the race.

Liverpool draw West Ham as title hopes slip

Iheanacho, Ndidi’s Leicester City secure promotion back to EPL

Leicester City were promoted to the Premier League on Friday after rivals Leeds United crashed to a shock 4-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers.

The result leaves Leicester City top of the Championship with 94 points with two games to play while Leeds stay second on 90 but with just one match left.

Third-place Ipswich Town can pip Leeds to the second automatic promotion place as they currently have 89 points with three matches still to play.

Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City achieved promotion at the first time of asking having been relegated from the Premier League last season following a third-from-bottom finish.

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Their final two games begin with a trip to Preston on Monday, before they round off the season with a home finale against Blackburn on May 4.

Leeds will find themselves outside the top two if Ipswich beat Hull on Saturday, or Coventry win their game in hand on Tuesday.

Should Ipswich win both, they will be promoted while Leeds will have to enter the play-offs.

On Friday goals from Ilias Chair, Lucas Andersen, Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field gave QPR victory and guaranteed their survival in England’s second-tier.

Iheanacho, Ndidi’s Leicester City secure promotion back to EPL