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Burnley 0 Tottenham 2
Tottenham trimmed Chelsea’s lead at the Premier League’s summit to seven points by becoming just the fourth top-flight side to win at Burnley this season.
Spurs were 13 points adrift prior to kick-off against Southampton two weeks ago but Chelsea’s loss at Crystal Palace on Saturday, coupled with this 2-0 success for Tottenham, will have given Mauricio Pochettino’s side hope the title’s destination is far from a foregone conclusion.
After Harry Winks had been stretchered off with a worrying injury at half-time, Eric Dier and substitute Heung-Min Son scored in the space of 11 second-half minutes to prevent Burnley from getting the point they needed to equal their highest ever Premier League haul.
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This was the first Turf Moor game in six weeks since Lincoln knocked the Clarets out of the FA Cup, and Spurs were aiming to join the non-league outfit in being the only victorious visitors since November.
It was familiar terrain for ex-Burnley defender Kieran Trippier, making just his second league start of the campaign as one of three changes along with Winks and Vincent Janssen.
Spurs were unbeaten in their previous six top-flight meetings without Harry Kane but this was the first time summer signing Janssen had been entrusted with a league start in 2017.
There was certainly something missing from Tottenham going forward as they failed to threaten until the 32nd minute when Dele Alli spurned a glorious opening.
After Christian Eriksen waltzed beyond Ben Mee and fired at goal from a narrow angle, Tom Heaton’s save came to Alli, who somehow blazed over from eight yards with the type of opening Kane would surely have snaffled.
That was as close as either side came during the first half as Spurs’ rhythm was disrupted by the loss of two central midfielders in the space of four minutes.
Victor Wanyama was the first to be forced off having failed to fight on for too long after landing awkwardly before Winks suffered his troubling injury.
The 21-year-old caught Stephen Ward as he cut inside and then jarred his left leg on the turf near the Burnley dugout, rolling beside Sean Dyche’s bench where he remained until the interval.
A stretcher took him off during the half-time period and Pochettino rejigged his system for the second half by pushing Dier further forward.
There was an immediate improvement as a combination of Heaton and Ward kept out Janssen and then substitute Moussa Sissoko, while Ben Davies also drew Burnley’s goalkeeper into a decent stop at his near post.
This might have been the game where either Janssen or fellow summer signing Sissoko could kickstart their Tottenham careers, but the former continued to look cumbersome when failing to get a shot off and the latter showed no poise as he lashed a loose ball into the stand.
Thankfully for the Spurs fans housed there, Dier displayed plenty of control with a measured finish in the 66th minute. Eriksen’s corner was cleared to Dier by Jeff Hendrick and the England international steadied himself to place his try past Scott Arfield on the line at the far post.
A brief Burnley response looked likely as Michael Keane and Arfield fired attempts over yet a second Spurs goal 11 minutes after the opener put the result to bed.
Eriksen’s pass over the top released Alli and he rolled a glorious pass across for Son to apply a simple finish.
Alli might have had a hat-trick with another two efforts going narrowly wide of either post before the Spurs players retreated to the dressing room at the full-time whistle with even better news awaiting them from Stamford Bridge.
Hull 2 West Ham 1
Andrea Ranocchia’s late winner earned Hull another crucial home win in the fight to preserve their Premier League status and heaped more pressure on West Ham boss Slaven Bilic.
Italian defender Ranocchia, signed on loan from Inter Milan in January, headed home in the 85th minute to secure Hull a 2-1 win at the KCOM Stadium after Andrew Robertson’s strike after the break had cancelled out West Ham striker Andy Carroll’s landmark opener.
Victory for Hull was their fourth in five unbeaten league games at home under head coach Marco Silva and lifted them level on points with relegation rivals Swansea, who play Middlesbrough on Sunday, while West Ham slumped to a fourth straight defeat.
The visit of West Ham had been billed as the return of winger Robert Snodgrass, sold to the Londoners for #10.2million in January, but the Scot made little impact and was withdrawn in the second half.
Snodgrass was booed every time he was on the ball, but almost silenced the Tigers fans in the 13th minute when he headed Sofiane Feghouli’s bouncing right-wing cross straight at goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic.
Neither side had mustered an effort on goal until that point, but West Ham took the lead with their next chance five minutes later.
Hull skipper Curtis Davies misjudged his headed clearance from Aaron Cresswell’s excellent cross and, as the ball dropped invitingly for Carroll six yards out, the big number nine kept his composure to side-foot home on the volley for his 50th Premier League goal and seventh of the season.
Jakupovic denied West Ham a second soon after when he turned away Manuel Lanzini’s dipping, low shot from outside the area.
Hull tried to rally and only some desperate defending denied Oumar Niasse a shooting chance in the area after Sam Clucas’ clever backheel, but the home side failed to trouble Darren Randolph at all in the first period.
An out-of-sorts Davies was withdrawn for winger Kamil Grosicki at the interval as Silva looked to inject some vigour into his side and not for the first time this season his tactical switch paid dividends.
Hull’s best move of the match saw Lazar Markovic link well with Grosicki and the latter slipped in a marauding Robertson to run on into the area and bury a low left-footed shot into the bottom corner for a 53rd-minute equaliser.
Carroll’s thumping header was then instinctively saved by Jakupovic, but the Tigers had stirred at last and all of a sudden West Ham looked rattled.
Hull threatened again when Alfred N’Diaye’s right-footed effort hit a post and Grosicki fired the rebound wide.
Both sides chased the winner. Feghouli headed Lanzini’s cross wide and then spurned another chance when firing off target, but it was Hull who cashed in on their momentum.
Silva sent on midfielder Markus Henriksen and Shaun Maloney for Abel Hernandez and N’Diaye with 10 minutes left and three minutes later his side snatched the lead.
Grosicki curled in a corner from the left and Ranocchia rose 10 yards out at the near post and directed a fine header beyond Randolph into the opposite corner.
Carroll and team-mate Sam Byram were both off target in the closing stages as West Ham chased an equaliser, but Bilic’s side fell short and are now just six points above the drop zone.
Watford 1 Sunderland 0
Sunderland were shoved another step closer to relegation as Miguel Britos fired Watford to a 1-0 victory.
Uruguayan defender Britos headed his first Hornets goal to leave David Moyes’ strugglers still seven points adrift of safety and with games running out.
Watford had been frustrated by Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford, who made a string of fine saves to deny M’Baye Niang and Abdoulaye Doucoure.
But Pickford could not prevent Britos pouncing after a goalmouth scramble to condemn Sunderland to another defeat.
One goal is all you need to beat the Black Cats at the moment, as they have now not scored in their last five matches and not even Jermain Defoe, fresh from his England renaissance, looked likely to end their drought.
By contrast, a first win in five matches should ease Watford’s fears of being dragged into trouble.
Pickford was quickly into the action for Sunderland, the youngster palming Niang’s shot away before making a stunning, diving save to scoop Doucoure’s follow-up over the crossbar.
Stefano Okaka should have put Watford ahead with a free header which he planted over, before Etienne Capoue curled narrowly wide.
Watford’s injury curse struck again shortly before half-time when Younes Kaboul pulled up with a hamstring injury.
Moments later Adnan Januzaj’s shot took a big deflection which wrong-footed Heurelho Gomes but, fortunately for the Watford goalkeeper, flew just wide.
Pickford then had to get down sharply to block another Niang effort at the near post, and from the corner Craig Cathcart headed straight at the Black Cats keeper.
The breakthrough arrived in the 59th minute, and it was hardly a goal straight off the training ground.
Okaka met Tom Cleverley’s corner with a header which Sunderland forward Fabio Borini inadvertently nodded on to his own crossbar.
The ball flew out to Cathcart, who headed it back across goal for Britos to bundle in at the far post.
Moments later substitute Isaac Success burst through one-on-one with Pickford but the keeper spread himself well to block the shot with his leg.
Januzaj was then replaced to the sound of sarcastic jeers from the away support, who were clearly not impressed with his efforts.
Jose Holebas almost doubled Watford’s advantage with a 20-yard drive which cleared Pickford’s glove but also the crossbar.
Instead Sunderland pressed for an equaliser, but Gomes kept out Borini’s long-range effort to secure the points and deepen the gloom on Wearside.
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