Burundi-born striker Saido Berahino’s double inspired West Bromwich Albion to a 4-0 victory that sent promoted Burnley to the foot of the Premier League table on Sunday.
After Craig Dawson had broken the deadlock, England Under-21 international Berahino scored either side of halftime and Graham Dorrans claimed a late goal as West Brom recorded their first home win of the season.
Following a 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur and success last week against Hull City in the League Cup, West Brom manager Alan Irvine has led his side to three consecutive victories.
Photo: Reuters
“We were terrific,” said Irvine, whose side are to play Liverpool and Manchester United in their next two matches.
“I believe we have got a great group of lads, but I also know how hard it is going to be to win games in this league,” he said. “We will not get carried away.”
Burnley are still without a win since returning to the top flight and have not scored since the season’s opening day.
They now sit bottom of the table, below Newcastle United on goal difference, while West Brom moved up to 10th place, level on points with seventh-place Manchester United.
“We never got started and never got to grips,” Burnley manager Sean Dyche told Sky Sports. “It’s important we grow and learn from it.”
After bossing the early exchanges at The Hawthorns, the hosts went ahead in the 30th minute when Dawson met Chris Brunt’s right-wing corner with a downward header at the back post to claim his first West Brom goal.
Having drawn their three previous games 0-0, it was the first goal Burnley had conceded in four matches.
Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton then had to tip over a 25m shot by the influential Dorrans, before West Brom made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time.
The goal also stemmed from a corner, with James Morrison’s delivery from the left flicked on at the near post by Dorrans for Berahino to nod in from barely a meter at the far post.
Dyche introduced Ashley Barnes and on-loan Chelsea midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah at halftime, but within 11 minutes the game was over as West Brom scored again.
Dorrans was again the creator with a through ball for Berahinho, who angled a low shot across Heaton and into the bottom-left corner.
West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster produced an alert save to repel a header by Lukas Jutkiewicz, but Dorrans had the final say, sweeping a low shot past Heaton from substitute Cristian Gamboa’s right-wing cut-back.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was