Back in the big time! Leeds, Burnley seal Premier League returns
Leeds United and Burnley have secured their return to the Premier League after two and one seasons in the second-tier respectively, their promotions secured by the latter's 2-1 win over third-placed Sheffield United at Turf Moor.
The Leeds players, who had earlier done their bit by beating Stoke City 6-0, watched on from the Billy Bremner suite at Elland Road as John Brownhill scored twice for Burnley either side of Tom Cannon's first goal for the Blades.
Joel Piroe had struck four goals for a rampant Leeds side, Junior Firpo and Willy Gnonto also scoring.
'It's amazing. If you look at the scenes here, as it was after the final whistle, just pure excitement,' Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu said.
'Within ourselves we've got another target, so we can enjoy this now, but we've got another target we want to achieve. But right now, it's very good.'
Leeds boss Daniel Farke, who won promotion from the Championship to the EPL twice with Norwich City in 2019 and 2021, said he was 'lost for words'.
'You can see the atmosphere here, it's incredible. It's well deserved, 94 points at this stage is unbelievable. The lads should celebrate, all our supporters should celebrate.
'We will make sure that this Easter Monday will last for one or two more days.
'We played fantastic last season, with 90 minutes, before the heart-breaking game at Wembley, but to show resilience and keep going, we deserve today to celebrate.'
At the other end of the table, relegation-threatened Plymouth Argyle stunned play-off hopefuls Coventry City 3-1 to claim their third home win in a row.
Cardiff City suffered a huge blow to their survival hopes as a stunning Cameron Brannagan free kick salvaged a 1-1 draw for Oxford United.
The remainder of the teams in acute relegation danger all won, Derby County earning a much-needed 3-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion.
Hull City came from behind to beat fellow strugglers Preston North End 2-1, while a terrific second-half display saw Luton Town give their hopes a boost by beating play-off chasing Bristol City 3-1.
Colby Bishop's goal earned Portsmouth a 1-0 win over 10-man Watford to seal their safety, with Socceroo Kusini Yengi making a substitute appearance.
Tyrhys Dolan kept alive Blackburn Rovers' chances of making the play-offs after a hard-earned 1-0 win at Sunderland.
Millwall are just three points off sixth-placed Coventry in the play-off places with two matches to go after a 3-1 win over Norwich at The Den, but Middlesbrough's ambitions were dented by a damaging 2-1 loss at Sheffield Wednesday.
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Ryan Mason departed earlier this month to accept his first managerial role at West Brom. With AP Tottenham have hired Thomas Frank as their head coach after the Danish coach ended his nearly decade-long stay at Brentford. The 51-year-old Frank will replace Ange Postecoglou, who was fired last week despite leading Tottenham to their first trophy in 17 years with a win over Manchester United in the Europa League final. Frank joined Brentford in December 2016 and has been manager since 2018. He has established a reputation as a tactically flexible and shrewd coach who has improved players, especially those of a lower profile or who have not performed at other clubs. At Tottenham, he will have a squad of higher quality — albeit one that finished below Brentford in the Premier League last season — and will be managing in the Champions League for the first time. In that sense, it's a slight gamble from Spurs. Indeed, Frank has never won a trophy in his managerial career. 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Ryan Mason departed earlier this month to accept his first managerial role at West Brom. With AP Tottenham have hired Thomas Frank as their head coach after the Danish coach ended his nearly decade-long stay at Brentford. The 51-year-old Frank will replace Ange Postecoglou, who was fired last week despite leading Tottenham to their first trophy in 17 years with a win over Manchester United in the Europa League final. Frank joined Brentford in December 2016 and has been manager since 2018. He has established a reputation as a tactically flexible and shrewd coach who has improved players, especially those of a lower profile or who have not performed at other clubs. At Tottenham, he will have a squad of higher quality — albeit one that finished below Brentford in the Premier League last season — and will be managing in the Champions League for the first time. In that sense, it's a slight gamble from Spurs. Indeed, Frank has never won a trophy in his managerial career. 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Lando Norris has declared it is 'inevitable' he and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri will tangle on track in their battle for this year's world championship. As the title race heats up between the papaya pair, Norris said it was only a matter of time before the Formula 1 frontrunners clashed during a race. Norris sits 10 points behind Piastri in the championship standings after the Australian's last-start victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in a McLaren one-two. Piastri has won five of the opening nine races to the Brit's two as McLaren builds a two-pronged assault on the drivers' crown. Asked ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix whether an intra-team fight was inevitable as the title race progressed throughout the season, Norris said the team was prepared for the eventuality they would have a run-in at some stage this year. 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'We want this to be the case for many years to come and the best way to protect that is by having a very strong team around both of us. We're aware that whatever happens in the championship this year, or how things go, is much bigger than just this season and potentially defines our whole career. 'We're very aware of that fact, of course we still want to beat each other and win a world championship but we know that there's a bigger picture as well.' PIASTRI PLAN Piastri is not treating his title charge this year as 'do or die' and doesn't plan to change his approach now he's sitting at the top of the standings nearing the halfway point of the campaign. The Aussie star has drawn widespread praise for his calm and cool demeanour on – and off – the track and the Melbourne-born racer said he had no reason to change things for the run home. 'I think for me I'm still going to race how I always race,' Piastri said as per 'There's not really much more to say, I guess I'll just try and race how I always do. I think I normally try to race quite smart and keep myself out of trouble. 'A good saying is that 'It's often better to still be in the race than prove that you were right in the situation', so I'll try and keep that. 'I think for me I'm not looking at it as my one chance. Obviously I don't know that, but I don't think there's any use in putting extra pressure on yourself and thinking it's do or die. 'I'm still very early in my career and it obviously is a great opportunity, but I'll just try and win as many races as I can and hopefully it makes the championship look quite good at the end.' VERSTAPPEN VOW Max Verstappen has vowed not to change his approach to racing despite the cloud of an F1 race ban hanging over him, declaring 'I trust myself'. The four-time world champion made headlines at the Spanish Grand Prix after his collision with Mercedes rival George Russell, which cost him a 10-second time penalty and dropped him from fifth to 10th in the final results. Verstappen was also given three penalty points on his super licence, taking him to 11 – just one shy of a race ban if he transgresses again in Canada or Austria. But the Red Bull star was adamant he would not change his driving style to ward off the risk of a race ban. 'No, nothing changed. Why should I?' Verstappen told the media in Montreal. 'It is what it is. I was on eight points before and now it's 11. I mean, I cannot just back out of everything. 'I'm just going to race like I always do. I trust myself.' Verstappen slipped to 49 points behind championship leader Piastri in the driver standings following the race in Barcelona. The Dutch champion added he 'didn't need to go into' the fairness of the precarious position that he found himself in. 'But at the same time, life is not fair. I don't worry about it,' Verstappen said. 'I just come here to race, and I will always race hard, how I think I should race. And then we go on to the next race.' Reflecting on the costly incident with Russell, Verstappen said he had 'It was not the right thing to do at the time,' Verstappen said. 'It was a misjudgment, clearly, in the corner, but you don't need to go into full detail of why, how and what. 'Everyone makes mistakes in life. Everyone learns from them and we just move on.' Russell said a race ban for Verstappen would not be 'unjust' if he triggered a suspension. 'If he gets to 12 points it (a ban) wouldn't be unjust,' Russell said as per 'At the end of the day, that's why the penalty points are there. If you keep driving recklessly you will accumulate points, and get punished with a race ban. You've got it in your own hands and it doesn't go without risk. 'He was trying to run me off the road. I don't think he was trying to intentionally crash into me. He wanted to just sort of scare me a bit, but he just misjudged it. Again, it wasn't going to scare me, it was just all a bit surprising. 'I'm not looking for an apology. His actions cost him and they benefited me, so I should be almost thanking him. 'Obviously I'd be feeling very differently if it took me out of the race. But it is good to see that he took accountability. I was a bit surprised about that.'
