Kompany Says He Did Not Expect to Lead Burnley to Promotion in First Season

Burnley's Belgian manager Vincent Kompany applauds supporters ahead of kick-off in the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Manchester City and Burnley at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north-west England, on March 18, 2023. (AFP)
Burnley's Belgian manager Vincent Kompany applauds supporters ahead of kick-off in the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Manchester City and Burnley at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north-west England, on March 18, 2023. (AFP)
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Kompany Says He Did Not Expect to Lead Burnley to Promotion in First Season

Burnley's Belgian manager Vincent Kompany applauds supporters ahead of kick-off in the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Manchester City and Burnley at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north-west England, on March 18, 2023. (AFP)
Burnley's Belgian manager Vincent Kompany applauds supporters ahead of kick-off in the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Manchester City and Burnley at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north-west England, on March 18, 2023. (AFP)

Burnley manager Vincent Kompany said he did not expect to lead the Lancashire club to promotion to the Premier League in his first season in charge, but having achieved that return to the top tier he said his side are now aiming for more.

Burnley secured automatic promotion to the Premier League with seven games to spare after Friday's 2-1 victory at Middlesbrough ensured Kompany's side will finish in the second-tier Championship's top two.

They make their return to the top flight after one season, having been relegated on the final day of the 2021-22 campaign, in which they finished third-bottom.

Kompany, appointed in June 2022, said he had not dreamt of this outcome.

"It's Easter, there are seven games to go, and we are already celebrating," Kompany told Sky Sports. "We didn't expect this. We wanted to experience it one day, but we had a different timing on it. Quicker is better sometimes.

"Days like today happen more than you think, we found a way it was not easy at all. But somehow this season we also ended up on the good end of the game.

"There is a belief in the team, and it is still a team that can improve and that is the exciting part. They're like kids, they're celebrating like kids and that's fun to see."

Club chairman Alan Pace said the promotion came as a "complete surprise".

"Vincent and I spoke during the summer and talked about it in great length. We gave ourselves two to three years ... What you're seeing is a lot of magic coming together," Pace added.

Burnley need 11 points from their last seven games to win the Championship title, while 13 points will see them become the first Championship team to rack up more than 100 points since Leicester City in 2013-14.



Dakar Rally Comes Down to a Duel in the Sand between Lategan and Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi

 Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
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Dakar Rally Comes Down to a Duel in the Sand between Lategan and Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi

 Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)

Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al-Rajhi will duel in the Saudi sand for their first Dakar Rally title after swapping the lead for a second straight day Wednesday.

South Africa's Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes. Friday's last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah.

Al-Rajhi led by seven minutes before the 10th stage, a tricky 120-kilometer loop south of Shubaytah on Wednesday. But he got stuck and relinquished the overall lead back to Lategan.

“We got stuck because we were taking it easy,” Al-Rajhi said. “Everything is going good, that's the most important (thing). I have a good position, I hope.”

Lategan also took it easy but without finding any trouble, and was 10th on the stage, making up minutes on all of his nearest pursuers.

“It wasn't the plan to go quickly today,” Lategan said.

On Thursday, he will start 10th and Al-Rajhi 27th and they can push harder by taking advantage of the tracks of those in front.

'Most disappointing day of my life'

Third-placed Mattias Ekström fell two minutes further back to 27 minutes, and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah lost five minutes to drop back to 30.

Al-Attiyah, the only former champion with an outside title shot, got lost about nine kilometers in.

“I'm very disappointed, but what can you do?” Al-Attiyah said. “We had a good pace but we lost a lot of time. This is the most disappointing day of my life.”

Spain's Nani Roma, one of only three men to win the Dakar in a car (2014) and motorbike (2004), won his first stage in nine years by 18 seconds from Lucas Moraes of Brazil. Brian Baragwanath of South Africa was third.

Sanders on the brink

Australian rider Daniel Sanders was on the brink of his first Dakar title in a motorbike race he's dominated from stage one.

Sanders was fourth on the 116-kilometer stage but ahead of his nearest rivals, extending his overall lead by about two minutes against Spain's Tosha Schareina and France's Adrien van Beveren.

The advantage over Schareina was 16 1/2 minutes, the biggest in the race so far.

“It's pretty much survival tomorrow and just get(ting) through,” Sanders said. “I think we'll be all right. I felt really good in the navigation and I was opening a little bit and then, yeah, it felt nice. So yeah, ready for tomorrow.”

Portugal's Rui Gonçalves won his maiden stage in his fifth Dakar by nearly four minutes from Slovakia's Stefan Svitko. American Skyler Howes was third.