Burnley close to safety as Chris Wood’s first-half hat-trick shatters Wolves

Chris Wood scored a first-half hat-trick as Burnley cruised to a 4-0 victory against Wolvers and eased their Premier League relegation fears.

The opening goal at Molineux came in the 15th minute when the Wolves defender Willy Boly misjudged a long ball, allowing Wood to control it before scoring with a powerful finish into the bottom left corner.

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Wood doubled Burnley’s lead six minutes later with a simple tap-in after a driving run by the winger Dwight McNeil to carve open the Wolves defence.

The duo combined again just before half-time as Wood completed his first Premier League hat-trick with a header from a floated McNeil corner.

Ashley Westwood added gloss to the scoreline with an 85th-minute strike from 15 metres after being set up by Wood as Burnley collected their first win in four league games.

Burnley climbed to 14th in the Premier League table on 36 points and are nine points clear of the relegation zone. Wolves remain in 12th place.