Football: Chris Wood brace helps ensure survival

All White Chris Wood took his Premier League scoring tally for the season to double figures with both goals against Cardiff City yesterday. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand striker Chris Wood has put Burnley on the brink of safety in the English Premier League.

Wood struck twice in Burnley's 2-0 win over Cardiff yesterday, a victory that all but ensures another season of top flight football for Sean Dyche's side. The ninth and 10th goals of Wood's Premier League campaign moved Burnley to 39 points with four games remaining — 11 ahead of Cardiff, who have a game in hand but remain five points from safety in 18th.

Wood had already hit the goal frame when he put Burnley ahead on the half-hour mark, as he glanced home a corner by Dwight McNeil.

Cardiff thought they had been given a penalty shortly after the break as the assistant referee flagged for a hand ball against Ben Mee in the area. However, referee Mike Dean ignored the recommendation, to the dismay of Cardiff manager Neil Warnock.

Wood then doubled the lead in the 90th minute with a close-range header after Cardiff failed to clear another good delivery from McNeil.

Southampton also boosted their chances of staying up by beating Wolverhampton 3-1. Brighton, though, are still in trouble after losing 5-0 at home to Bournemouth to drop to 17th.

Paul Pogba's calm nerves and David De Gea's quick reflexes kept Manchester United in the hunt for a top-four finish. Pogba scored two penalties to give United a 2-1 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford, the second coming shortly after De Gea had denied West Ham a potential winner by palming away a header from Michail Antonio with a superb one-handed save.

The win was much-needed for United but the performance wasn't convincing as the hosts were outplayed for large spells and benefited from two disputed refereeing calls. West Ham had a goal disallowed for offside before the hosts were given a soft penalty as Robert Snodgrass was judged to have fouled Juan Mata when the two collided in the area.

"We got away with it, to put it that way," United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. "They deserved to get their goals. But then, it's allowed to have a good goalkeeper, isn't it?"

The win ended a run of four losses in five games in all competitions for United and kept Solskjaer's team two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

Tottenham remained three points ahead of United in third by beating already relegated Huddersfield 4-0, with Lucas Moura scoring a hat-trick.

Moura made sure Tottenham did not miss injured striker Harry Kane as the Brazilian winger became the first player to score a hat-trick in the club's new stadium after Victor Wanyama opened the scoring in the 24th minute.

- AP