Burnley in peril, Newcastle salvage late draw

Burnley in peril, Newcastle salvage late draw
Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Newcastle United - Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain - March 16, 2019 Newcastle United's Matt Ritchie scores their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs Copyright PAUL CHILDS(Reuters)
By Reuters
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By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Burnley suffered a hammer blow to their Premier League survival hopes as Wes Morgan scored a 90th-minute winner for 10-man Leicester City at a stunned Turf Moor on Saturday.

With only three Premier League games the focus was very much at the foot of the table with fourth-bottom Burnley and Newcastle United having opportunities to ease the pressure.

While Burnley slumped to a 2-1 defeat, 13th-placed Newcastle earned a point in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth thanks to a superb late equaliser from former Bournemouth player Matt Ritchie.

Bottom club Huddersfield Town looked on course for only their fourth league victory of the season when they led 3-1 at West Ham United, but capitulated late on to lose 4-3 and leave them 16 points below Burnley.

Burnley's fourth successive league defeat left them perched perilously above the drop zone, two points above 18th-placed Cardiff City who now have a game in hand.

It looked good for Burnley when Leicester's Harry Maguire was given a straight red card in the fourth minute for bringing down Johann Berg Gudmundsson.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Leicester went ahead through James Maddison's 33rd-minute free kick.

Dwight McNeil swept in a 38th-minute equaliser to settle home nerves and Burnley had several penalty claims turned down in the second half as they chased a winner.

Morgan's header gave Brendan Rodgers his second win in three games as Leicester manager, keeping his side in 10th spot.

With three of their last four games of the season against Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal, Sean Dyche knows his side will have to emerge from their slump as a matter of urgency.

A home game against mid-table Leicester had looked like a good opportunity but Dyche said the early sending-off of Maguire had actually thrown his team.

"It can play with you psychologically when someone gets sent off so early, and we didn't get to grips with the game in the first half," he said.

"You need results, we are in a tough spell now and you want to come away with something especially against 10 men."

Salomon Rondon gave Newcastle the lead in first-half stoppage time with a superb free kick but Bournemouth levelled through Josh King's dubious penalty and when he struck again in the 81st minute Newcastle looked sunk.

But Ritchie's superb volley from DeAndre Yedlin's cross sent the Magpies fans into raptures.

West Ham trailed 3-1 in the 75th minute at the London Stadium with some home fans heading for home.

But Angelo Ogbonna headed in before substitute Javier Hernandez struck twice.

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West Ham had actually taken the lead through Mark Noble's early penalty but Huddersfield belied their lowly position with Juninho Bacuna and Karlam Grant scoring before halftime.

Youngster Grant thumped home a 25-metre shot and a rare Saturday afternoon to savour looked likely for the Terriers but West Ham were not in the mood to be fall guys and finished with a flourish to move to within two points of seventh-placed Wolves.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)

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