Leeds swept aside Swansea 4-0 to claim a seventh-consecutive Sky Bet Championship victory and equal their biggest win of the season.
The hosts were left facing an uphill battle that proved well beyond them after Crysencio Summerville and former Swansea striker Joel Piroe struck inside the opening 10 minutes.
Wilfried Gnonto added a brace to make it four goals in as many games, with Daniel Farke’s side maintaining their push for an automatic promotion spot in style.
Leeds had four former Swansea players in their matchday squad.
Joe Rodon was at the heart of the defence and Piroe was drafted in to the attack after Patrick Bamford was injured during the warm-up.
Wales internationals Connor Roberts and Daniel James – fit again after three weeks out with a hip injury – were among the substitutes.
Relegation clouds were starting to hover over Swansea but they had been lifted by their weekend win at Hull, their first league success under Luke Williams at the fifth attempt.
The Welsh club’s feel-good factor quickly evaporated as Leeds cut through them at will in the opening stages and showed a ruthless edge in front of goal to match.
After Swansea failed to clear their lines, Summerville scored his 16th goal of an increasingly-productive campaign with the help of a deflection off Jay Fulton.
Two minutes later, Piroe – who scored 46 Swansea goals before joining Leeds for a reported £12million fee in August – was granted the freedom of a familiar penalty area to race on to Gnonto’s pass.
Piroe’s shot had enough power to beat Carl Rushworth, who got a hand to it but was unable to deny the Dutchman his 11th Leeds goal.
Rushworth prevented Gnonto and Georginio Rutter from adding to Swansea’s misery, while Illan Meslier thwarted Brazilian winger Ronald at the other end.
Ronald tangled with Junior Firpo, while some Swansea fans called for a penalty, but those appeals fell on deaf ears and Leeds effectively settled the contest after 35 minutes.
Gnonto burst onto Archie Gray’s clever pass and advanced unchecked before cutting inside Ben Cabango.
The Italy international kept his composure to find the bottom corner of Rushworth’s net from 10 yards.
Swansea almost reduced the deficit at the start of the second half with Ronald, their main source of danger, firing a shot goalwards that Jamie Paterson diverted just wide.
Paterson was on the end of another chance moments later but he sent his volley over before striking the Leeds wall from a free-kick.
Leeds had taken their foot off the throttle in the second half as if the job was done.
But Gnonto profited from another quick break, fed by Summerville and driving low past the exposed Rushworth as Leeds matched their four-goal December victory over Ipswich.
Gen Sec Dennis Chung defends JFF’s decision to rehire Busby; labels media allegations as “witch hunt”
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) General Secretary Dennis Chung has defended the decision to rehire Hubert Busby Jr as the senior Reggae Girlz Head coach, as he pointed out that the country’s governing football body conducted due diligence before moving forward.
Chung’s declaration is in response to an article published by British daily newspaper The Guardian, alleging that the JFF misrepresented Busby’s reinstatement, stating that he was cleared of sexual misconduct allegations by Fifa’s Ethics Committee.
He dismissed the article published on Friday and headlined “Jamaica FA falsely claims women’s team coach was cleared of alleged sexual misconduct” as a “witch hunt” and accused the outlet of distorting facts and overlooking critical details.
This, as the article cast doubt on Busby’s “clearance,” noting that Fifa’s Ethics Committee had closed the preliminary investigation due to a statute of limitations without formally exonerating him.
SportsMax.Tv obtained a copy of the correspondent from the Investigatory Chamber of Fifa's Ethics Committee stating that the investigation against Busby was closed based on information available. An email titled 'Fifa Clearance Letter' was also obtained, the content of which clarified that Busby is clear to seek employment.
Busby was reappointed Reggae Girlz Head coach earlier this year, after he was initially suspended by the JFF in 2021, when the allegation of sexual misconduct was brought against him by former player Malloree Enoch.
Enoch alleged that Busby made sexual advances towards her during his time in charge at the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s outfit between 2010 and 2011. Busby denied the allegations.
“Do you think that the JFF, which is the organisation that dismissed Busby when the allegation was made, wouldn’t have done our due diligence? The technical committee received information to say that the investigation has closed and there was nothing based on the information that they had; there was nothing to support what was alleged,” Chung told SportsMax.Tv.
“The letter had stated that Fifa closed the investigation based on the information available. They never referred to any statute of limitations, as the article said. In addition to that, there was an email that Busby forwarded from Fifa stating that he could share it with us for employment purposes,” he added.
SportsMax.Tv obtained a copy of the correspondent from the Investigatory Chamber of Fifa's Ethics Committee stating that the investigation against Busby was closed due to information available, and could be shared
Chung clarified that contrary to the statement that he declined multiple requests for interviews and comments, he only received one call from a Guardian journalist, whom he directed to Busby or his legal representatives.
“They said that they reached out to me multiple times; that is not true. They called me once, and I told them, just like any organisation would, that Busby is a staff member and I am not at liberty to discuss his situation or give out any information on him. I told them they should call Busby, as it is he they need to get that information from,” Chung shared.
Since the article surfaced, SportsMax.Tv has been reliably informed that Busby is in the process of filing a defamation lawsuit against someone in the UK. It is not clear if the individual is an employee at the British newspaper.
SportsMax.Tv obtained a copy of the correspondent from the Investigatory Chamber of Fifa's Ethics Committee stating that the investigation against Busby was closed due to information available, and could be shared
Chung also rubbished the claim in The Guardian article that several witnesses—including Enoch—were not interviewed by Fifa’s Ethics Committee.
“Does that make sense? If she is the one that made the allegations, do you think Fifa wouldn’t interview her? So what it is, it’s a witch hunt that they are on; it is almost as if they are saying he is still guilty even though the investigation is closed, and that is totally ridiculous,” Chung opined.
Finally, Chung said he is deeply disappointed by the article, which he believes unfairly targets Busby. He also expressed the view that the report adds unnecessary scrutiny to an issue that the JFF and Fifa have already addressed through established protocols.
“I don’t understand what it is about, but there is obviously something behind it. Because the letter never said the investigation was closed based on the statute of limitation, it said the investigation was closed based on the information that they had,” he noted.
“Not because an allegation is made means you’re going to hold it against a man for the rest of his life. Allegations are made against politicians all over, and they are still in positions of authority. You can’t because an allegation is made against a man; hold it against him, and there is nothing to prove that it happened,” Chung ended.
Leeds cut gap at the top of the Championship, while Watford hammer Wednesday
Leeds climbed to second in the Championship, three points behind leaders Sunderland, following a 3-0 victory at home to Plymouth.
Daniel Farke's side dominated the opening 30 minutes of the match before three goals in eight minutes put the game to bed inside the first half.
Dan James opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, firing into the top corner from the edge of the area, before Joel Piroe and Brenden Aaronson made it comfortable.
The result marked Plymouth's fourth game without a victory and they dropped into the bottom three on goal difference due to results elsewhere.
Sunderland were held to a goalless draw away to second-bottom QPR, which opened the door for those below to reduce their lead at the top of the table.
While Dan Neil hit the post for the Black Cats in the first half, it was the hosts who were the better team for long periods.
The game turned in the second half when Jobe Bellingham was sent off after 58 minutes for a poor challenge on Zan Celar, but neither side was able to find a winner.
Elsewhere, Watford moved above West Brom into fifth after they hammered Sheffield Wednesday 6-2 at Hillsborough for their second away win of the season.
The result ended a six-game losing run on the road for the Hornets, who were drawing 1-1 at half-time and saw Vakoun Bayo score four goals inside 30 second-half minutes.
Coventry also made it back-to-back league wins for the first time this season with a 3-0 victory away to Middlesbrough that moved them up to 13th.
The hosts had Hayden Hackney sent off after 22 minutes for two yellow cards, which allowed the Sky Blues to ease to three points. As a result, Michael Carrick's side are three points off the play-off positions in 10th.
Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester City: Cherries end worst record in English football with shock victory
Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson helped give Bournemouth their first-ever league win against Manchester City as they beat the defending champions 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium.
The hosts boosted their giant-killing credentials as they secured a third home victory on the bounce, having beaten Arsenal last time out.
Semenyo got Bournemouth off the mark inside 10 minutes as he turned to fire in at the far post from the centre of the box, before Evanilson doubled the lead after the restart.
Josko Gvardiol gave the visitors a consolation goal with a brilliant header at the back post on 82 minutes but it was too little too late.
While Erling Haaland hit the post and Phil Foden fired just wide in a frantic stoppage time, Bournemouth secured all three points and left Pep Guardiola's man to travel back north empty-handed.
City drop down to second and fail to take advantage of Arsenal’s earlier falter, while Bournemouth move up to eighth.
Data Debrief: Historic victory for Bournemouth ends City's winning streak
This is the host's first-ever win against City in all competitions (D2 L19 before today), while it’s their first league win over the reigning Premier League champions since a 3-0 win over Chelsea in January 2018.
The defeat brings City's 32-game Premier League unbeaten run to an end. They’ve lost successive matches in all competitions for the first time since September 2023.
This is their first defeat when going at least two goals behind in a Premier League game since October 2021 against Crystal Palace, having avoided defeat on their last five previous occasions before today (W3 D2).
Conversely, Bournemouth's fortunes are looking up. They are unbeaten in their last three Premier League games, with those results coming against three of last season's top four (W2 D1).
This is just the fourth time they’ve won three successive home games in the Premier League after October 2016, February 2018 and April 2024.
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