It was a goal-laden day in the Premier League.
Burnley were twice denied by VAR as the relegation-threatened club saw a miraculous comeback fall short in a 4-3 home defeat to Brentford on a free-scoring Saturday in the Premier League.
Mikkel Damsgaard headed home unmarked to give Brentford a ninth-minute lead, before Igor Thiago tucked into the bottom-right corner to make it 2-0 after latching onto a superb Damsgaard pass.
Kevin Schade seemingly put the game beyond doubt with a simple finish, with Burnley paying the price for failing to deal with a long throw.
But a Michael Kayode own goal in first-half stoppage time set in motion an excellent fightback from Burnley, which continued when Jaidon Anthony’s strike was deflected in by Kayode.
Zian Flemming’s header on the hour saw Burnley incredibly restore parity, and it appeared Flemming had completed the turnaround 12 minutes from time, only for his effort to be ruled out by VAR for offside.
Brentford made the most of that let-off as Damsgaard turned home Rico Henry’s cross to restore their lead, yet that stoppage-time strike was not the end of the drama.
Ashley Barnes appeared to have rescued a point when he lashed into the bottom-left corner after a long ball into the box was nodded into his path. However, following a lengthy VAR check and despite the striker’s protestations that the ball hit his chest, it was ruled that Barnes had accidentally handled before firing home.
Defeat keeps Burnley eight points adrift of safety, with West Ham — beaten 5-2 at Liverpool — two points adrift of Nottingham Forest. Brentford’s victory keeps their push for European football very much alive.
Everton win thriller at Newcastle
Everton are also dreaming of European football, and boosted those aspirations by dealing another blow to Newcastle United’s prospects with a 3-2 win at St James’ Park.
Newcastle’s upturn in form came to a halt, with their Premier League displays continuing to be in stark contrast to their impressive performances in other competitions.
They started slowly against the Toffees, who have been excellent on the road and took the lead when Jarrad Branthwaite met a near-post corner and flicked a header in off the post.
Jacob Ramsey levelled with his second goal for Newcastle as his strike from the edge of the area deflected over a stricken Jordan Pickford, but two minutes later the visitors restored their advantage.
In truth, Everton were gifted their second goal, with goalkeeper Nick Pope somehow contriving to palm Dwight McNeil’s tame long-range effort straight into the path of Beto to slam home.
Beto wasted a gilt-edged chance to make it 3-1 when he hit the crossbar when through one-on-one with Pope, and it looked as if that miss would cost Everton after Pickford was undone by a deflection again, with Jacob Murphy’s volley diverted beyond the England goalkeeper eight minutes from the end of normal time.
Yet again, parity was short-lived. Anthony Gordon was dispossessed by Iliman Ndiaye, who played in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall down the left to pull back for Thierno Barry to bundle home despite appearing to be fouled by Lewis Hall.
Newcastle would have claimed a share of the spoils if not for a save of the season contender from Jordan Pickford, who performed heroics to turn a vicious Sandro Tonali volley onto the crossbar and preserve all three points. Everton are up to eighth, three points behind Brentford, while Newcastle stay a disappointing 12th.
