LEEDS, England (AP) — Leeds United took a massive step towards confirming its Premier League status after a comfortable 3-1 victory over Burnley on Friday.
The win almost certainly guarantees top tier football at Elland Road next season. Leeds moved nine points clear of Tottenham Hotspur, the team occupying the third and last relegation spot.
Daniel Farke’s men improved to 14th place, above Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and West Ham, all of whom have a game in hand. The bottom two, Wolves and Burnley, are already going down.
Anton Stach put the home side ahead in the eighth minute with a low shot from 30 meters out that somehow sneaked inside Martin Dubravka’s post.
The second came seven minutes into the second half thanks to sloppy defending by Burnley’s Bashir Humphreys. His pass was intercepted by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whose neat backheel created more space in the Burnley defense and allowed Noah Okafor to fire home.
Calvert-Lewin got the third himself four minutes later when he was on hand to prod home in a crowded penalty box after Dubravka could only parry Ao Tanaka’s long-range effort.
Loum Tchaouna got Burnley’s consolation goal.
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