Well, Burnley lost, which isn’t cool, but they’re still out of the relegation zone, and they’ve got winnable home matches Tuesday and Sunday, so things could be worse.
The Result:
Leeds 1, Burnley 0
How It Happened:
Leeds got on the board with a penalty kick in the fifth minute. Burnley had it tied later on in the half, but the goal was disallowed because of a foul on…Leeds. People are upset.
What It Means:
The lads are still 16th in the table, but Brighton’s got a 1-0 lead on West Ham a little after halftime, which would drag Burnley back down to 17th. Either way, still two points ahead of Fulham for the first relegation spot.
What’s Next:
Sheffield United comes to Turf Moor on Tuesday, followed by Fulham’s visit on Sunday. From there, though, it’s tougher: trips to West Ham and Liverpool conclude the first half of the round robin (minus, of course, the postponed match with Man U). It’d feel great to get six points this coming week, and good to get at least four, which would, worst case, hold Fulham at bay.
Other News:
Nothing that I noticed, but I’ve been off the Twitter more the last few days, and the refereeing really took all the oxygen out of the Burnley portion of the feed, so very possible I missed something.
General Thoughts:
The EPL’s weird in how for some clubs, every match really matters, with a life-or-death sort of gravitas if you’re in the relegation picture—while for other clubs, halfway through the year you’re already kind of playing out the string.
Burnley Thoughts:
Seems like there’s agreement that Burnley’s disallowed goal was, at best, the product of a bad rule? I am not the one to know such things. I’ve watched fewer than two full games of soccer over the last two years. Looks like the Clarets generated some good chances, so it’s tough that none of those found the net to at least get a point. And Arsenal’s win yesterday eliminates another team Burnley could’ve briefly used as cushion between themselves and Fulham. Not a great weekend. But sounds like the lads didn’t play all that badly or anything.
