Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder admitted his side’s Premier League season was over after a 4-1 home defeat to relegation rivals Burnley.
Burnley struck twice in the space of two minutes just before the interval through Jacob Bruun Larsen and Lorenz Assignon to snatch control after being second best for most of the first half.
The Blades threatened a comeback when Gus Hamer reduced the deficit, but further goals from Lyle Foster and substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson maintained Burnley’s late bid for survival.
The Clarets climbed to within three points of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, while a 23rd league defeat of the season has left the rock-bottom Blades 10 adrift of safety with five games to play.
Wilder said: “We all understand the situation. I’m not being defeatist, I’m being a realist. The season really, is gone.
“We have an obligation to our supporters and an obligation to the league to be as competitive as we possibly can, so we’ll look at that as well.
“We’ll get it right. We’ll have people who want to be here. People that want to run around and be involved when the going gets tough and want to be part of it when we’re going well.
“In the meantime, we have to do our best to make this as painless as possible because at the moment pain is going through every part of the football club.”
Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric made a string of crucial saves in either half, while at the other end the visitors were clinical and Gudmundsson’s effort with 20 minutes left, less than a minute after stepping off the bench, killed the game.
Wilder added: “I won’t name names, but I think there were a few players out there who wanted to get out of there pretty quickly after the fourth went in, which you just can’t have.
“I think there were a few who wanted to get out of there pretty quickly and that can’t happen. It’s a powerful league and it’s been too powerful for us all season.”
Burnley registered just their second win of the year, but have now taken 10 points from their last seven matches and boss Vincent Kompany was delighted his players appear to be holding their nerves.
The Belgian said: “You get closer to the end (of the season) and this game was important for both teams, so I feel really happy with the result and the performance.
“The timing of their goal was really bad for us, it’s as bad as you can get. But you’re looking to see if the team is panicking, if there are any signs, but it didn’t feel like this.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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