Leeds manager Daniel Farke declared himself delighted with a point from a 2-2 draw at Watford in the final act of a dramatic day of Championship action.
Leeds required a 85th-minute equaliser from substitute Mateo Joseph to preserve his side’s unbeaten league start to 2024.
The Spanish striker, 20, netted just 25 seconds after coming on but a point was not enough to reclaim the Championship summit from Ipswich, 1-0 winners at Blackburn earlier in the day. Before that, Leicester – 1-0 losers at Bristol City in a lunchtime clash – had dropped out of the top two altogether.
Watford led twice in the first half through Vakoun Bayo and Emmanuel Dennis, who scored either side of a fine strike by the game’s outstanding individual, Crysancio Summerville. Watford looked like they might hang on for the win but Joseph had other ideas.
It was a point gained rather than two lost as far as Farke was concerned and the German outlined exactly why.
“I will take this point all day long,” he said. “I am really happy and proud of the boys. We played this game at the worst possible moment. Watford, they have a new manager and there is new belief, he knows the players inside out and they were unleashed and had a great start.
“We had the worst possible international break. For us three players came back injured and three Welsh players had the disappointment of not being allowed to go to the Euros. We had not one first team training session as a team.
“We had to play this game by just pressing a button and we were not at our best rhythm. Then to play such a second half, I’m pretty happy with the outcome.
“We found our rhythm and our confidence. If training didn’t matter we would just turn up for the games – it matters.”
“The coach said we have to be ready make an impact,” Joseph added. “I’m happy to help the team get a valuable point and we are happy still to be unbeaten in the League this year.”
Watford interim manager Tom Cleverley, whose first game in charge was a 1-0 win at Birmingham before the international break, was delighted with his players.
He said: “I thought it was a much stronger performance even though we have not got the three points. For the first 65 minutes we were excellent, I’m really proud of the players tonight.
“What pleased me most was the focus of the players, not one switched off
“Now my job is to create a game plan to win every game and I thought the players absolutely nailed it.”
Watford were more attacking than they had been in the last days of previous manager Valerien Ismael, which pleased the home fans.
Cleverley added: “Everyone wants to play front foot football but you have to be structured especially against a team like Leeds.
“The work that we put in in the last two weeks showed today. It was a big ask to come up against the league leaders but we more than held our own.
“We have got the personnel to do it and I thought it was the right opposition to do it against. We just tired a little bit at the end.”
Marco Reus to leave Dortmund after 12-year-spell with boyhood club
Marco Reus will leave Borussia Dortmund when his contract expires at the end of the season, the club have announced.
Reus, a Dortmund native, first joined the club in 1995 and spent 10 years in their youth ranks before joining Rot Weiss Ahlen, who he left for Borussia Monchengladbach in 2009.
After three impressive seasons with Gladbach, Reus returned to Dortmund in a €17million deal in 2012 and has made 424 appearances for the club across all competitions.
That puts him fourth in BVB's all-time charts behind Michael Zorc (561), Mats Hummels (504) and Roman Weidenfeller (445), while his 168 goals in black and yellow have only been bettered by Alfred Preissler, who scored 177 in two spells between 1945 and 1959, before the Bundesliga was founded.
Reus, who has won the DFB-Pokal on two occasions with Dortmund and helped them reach the Champions League final in his first season upon returning in 2012-13, was also club captain between 2018 and 2023.
As news of his impending departure was made public, he said his full focus is on ensuring his final game with the club is June's Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.
"I'm incredibly grateful for and proud of this special time at my club Borussia Dortmund," the 34-year-old said.
"I have spent more than half of my life at this club and enjoyed every day, even though there have of course been difficult moments too.
"I already know now that I will find it difficult to say goodbye at the end of the season, and yet I'm happy that there is now clarity and that we can focus fully on the very important final games that we still have to play.
"We have a big objective in our sights that we all want to achieve together. To do so, we will need every single one of our unbelievable fans, to whom I would like to express my sincere thanks for their unbelievable support over the years."
Reus came on as a late substitute as Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the first leg of their semi-final tie on Wednesday, with Niclas Fullkrug scoring the only goal of the game.
Kompany wants to write names into the Burnley history books
Vincent Kompany challenges his players to ‘remain in the club’s history’ as they continue their fight for Premier League safety.
The Clarets are welcoming Newcastle United to Turf Moor on Saturday following an impressive run of form that has seen them lose just one of their last eight matches.
Burnley remain two points from safety with three games remaining, though that could change if Luton Town beat Everton on Friday.
Kompany was full of praise for the work his team has done to keep them within reach of the teams above them, highlighting the opportunity the next three games pose.
"It’s so rare in life that you get opportunities to have a significant moment like this, but these guys will have the opportunity in the next three games," Kompany said.
"It’s as big an opportunity as you get. Getting to the wire and having something to play for, that’s one of the most powerful things you can do in this game.
"Every season I feel needs to matter and you can make it matter by doing something special in the next three games. I want every player in the team to believe, individually, they can have a moment."
Newcastle head into Saturday’s match following an impressive 5-1 win over Sheffield United that ultimately relegated the Blades.
Eddie Howe’s team are still in the hunt for a top-seven finish but have struggled to get results away from home this season.
He said: "For me I always tried to focus on the game and not where it is played.
"I urge my players to do the same. In the last few games we have shown flashes of being back to our very best. I want to see that for 90 minutes if we can."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Burnley – Zeki Amoundi
Amdouni is Burnley’s joint-top scorer in the Premier League this season, along with Jacob Bruun Larsen and Lyle Foster with five goals each. The Clarets have the lowest scoring top scorers of any side in the competition this term.
Newcastle – Anthony Gordon
Gordon has 10 goals and nine assists in the Premier League this season – the only Newcastle players to reach double figures for both in a single campaign are Andrew Cole in 1993-94 (34G 13A) and Ruel Fox in 1994-95 (10G 11A).
MATCH PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE UNITED WIN
Following their five consecutive Premier League wins over Burnley, Newcastle United will be looking to win six in a row against an opponent for just a second time, also registering six wins against Spurs between 2006 and 2008.
However, Newcastle have lost eight of their last 11 Premier League away games; since the first match of this spell in November (v Bournemouth), only Brentford (10) and Sheffield United (nine) have lost more times on their travels in the competition.
Meanwhile, Burnley have won just two of their 13 Premier League matches against Newcastle United (D4 L7), losing the last five in a row. They have never lost six in a row against the Magpies in their league history.
Burnley, though, have only lost one of their last eight Premier League games (W2 D5), picking up more points in this run (11) than their previous 20 league matches prior (nine – W2 D3 L15).
Newcastle have scored 74 Premier League goals this season, only netting more in 1993-94 (82). Their record of 2.2 goals-per-game is their most in a top-flight season since 1951-52, when they scored 98 in 42 matches (2.3 per game).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Burnley – 25.2%
Draw – 27.9%
Newcastle – 46.9%
Neville: Chelsea sacking Pochettino 'would be madness'
Gary Neville says it "would be madness" for Chelsea to sack head coach Mauricio Pochettino as he is ideally suited to managing the club.
Pochettino admitted after Chelsea's 2-0 win over his former side Tottenham on Thursday that he is unsure of his future at Stamford Bridge.
The Argentinian has been under intense pressure at times this season, most recently on the back of the 5-0 loss to Arsenal last week.
Chelsea have since responded with a battling 2-2 draw at Aston Villa and the impressive win over Spurs, but doubts remain over Pochettino's future.
However, Neville insists it would be wrong of Chelsea to part company with the former Paris Saint-Germain boss at the end of the season.
"There was talk of Pochettino being under pressure a month or so ago," he told Sky Sports. "I think it would be madness to change the coach whose quality of work with these types of player is renowned.
"Making sure you have stability through another transfer window seems more critical than the idea someone else would come in and do a better job. That doesn't feel right here.
"He's a proven coach. One of the great coaches in the Premier League in the last five, six, seven years. Pochettino has had some up and down moments this season. But this is a good one."
Chelsea's victory over Tottenham moved them up to eighth in the Premier League and now within three points of Manchester United in sixth.
United have also struggled for consistency this season, raising doubts over their own manager Erik ten Hag as the end of the season nears.
There have also been reports that most of United's players will be up for sale when the transfer window opens, with or without Ten Hag in charge.
Ten Hag labelled those rumours "untrue", and Neville is adamant there will not be wholesale changes to the squad during the close season.
"To be fair, you know it's not true," the United legend said. "I mean [Kobbie] Mainoo is not for sale – there's no way that man can be sold so every player can't be for sale, it's impossible. There's no way United could sell their best young players.
"There's a lack of stability here at Chelsea at the moment, but there's a lack of stability at United. Richard Arnold, John Murtough, Patrick Stewart, Cliff Baty, all the senior management, Darren Fletcher's been moved to a different role within the club, Jason Wilcox has come in.
"I can understand why there is quite a few players who will be under pressure and potentially would be sold, but I can't believe it's every player or anywhere near that."
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