Vincent Kompany stressed Burnley have “total belief” after his relegation-threatened side beat 10-man Brentford 2-1 at Turf Moor for their first win in 11 Premier League games.
The Clarets took the lead through a 10th-minute Jacob Bruun Larsen penalty awarded for a foul on Vitinho by Sergio Reguilon, who received a straight red card.
David Datro Fofana, having been guilty of a remarkable miss late in the first half, then doubled the advantage with a finish just past the hour mark.
A nervy finale for the hosts saw Kristoffer Ajer score a header for Brentford and a stoppage-time Shandon Baptiste effort ruled out due to Ivan Toney fouling goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.
However, Burnley held out for a first victory of 2024 – and only their fourth in the league this term – to leave an eight-point gap between them and safety with nine games left to play.
Boss Kompany said in his post-match press conference: “It feels great and I think we have to celebrate.
“It’s a day where we won, we got the three points and I think the way we’ll handle this is we’ll really enjoy this moment today and then tomorrow we go back to work.
“The team started hard from the beginning, we were on the front foot, we created situations that forced mistakes from the opponent, we won duels, we were aggressive and then after that I think for large spells we did exactly what we have to do against 10 men. We scored the second goal, probably there’s a couple of goals I still don’t know how we missed it, but OK.
“And then after that I think it’s just like a team when you’ve not been winning, sometimes it becomes a little bit more difficult at the end of games to keep the result, but we did exactly what we had to do in terms of showing grit at times.
“There’s never been a lack of belief. For us, we have total belief, full belief.”
When asked how he would celebrate, the former Manchester City captain said: “It will have to be spontaneous, I didn’t really plan for it just yet. But I’ve celebrated a few times in my life, so I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it again!
“To bring up that energy through the week (after last week being held 2-2 at West Ham due to a stoppage-time Danny Ings equaliser), to start the game like we did, I think then at the end you earn the right to celebrate when you win.”
Brentford boss Thomas Frank, whose side are winless in six and 15th in the table, four points above the drop zone, had no complaints about the officials’ decisions to give the penalty, send off Reguilon, or disallow the stoppage-time effort.
However, he was unhappy no spot-kick was given to the Bees after Fofana tangled with Mathias Jorgensen early in the second half, an incident he described as a “murder in the box.”
Frank said: “There’s a clear penalty, how the referee (Darren Bond) and the VAR cannot see that, it’s incredible.
“That would have changed the game. It is a 100 per cent clear penalty, especially when they speak about you can’t hold, grab players. That was a murder in the box.”
Kompany viewed the situation differently, saying: “No chance (it should have been a penalty) – and with the way it’s gone this year, I’m even more convinced in saying it.”
Frank said he was “very, very proud” of his players, adding: “What an effort, what a mentality, basically playing the whole match with 10 players – we were very close to getting a point.”
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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