West Ham 2-3 Tottenham: Another game involving Spurs sees another Bale masterclass to put them third. The Welshman opened the scoring after just 13-minutes with a great finish into the bottom corner from outside the box. West Ham were level on 25-minutes when Scott Parker fouled Andy Carroll in the box, Carroll got up and took the penalty, slotting it home with ease. Both keepers had a fantastic game but West Ham turned it around to lead 13-minutes into the second half when Joe Cole controlled a Joey O'Brien cross before firing home. Hugo Lloris somehow prevented the Hammers from going 3-1 ahead and minutes later Gylfi Sigurdsson to finish off an undefended Bale free-kick. The winner came in injury time when Bale found himself in space 25-yards out and absolutely smashed it sublimely into the top corner. The defeat is probably harsh of West Ham who remain six points ahead of the relegation zone.
Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea: City remain 12-points behind Manchester United but, perhaps more importantly, move seven points ahead of Chelsea. Chelsea held off City during the first half and should have taken the lead when Demba Ba was brought down by Joe Hart. As the ball was going away from goal, Hart escaped getting a card and Frank Lampard stepped-up for his chance to score his 200th goal. But his fellow England team mate was up to the challenge and smartly saved it, five minutes into the second half. Chelsea were punished on 63-minutes when Yaya Toure was on hand to put City ahead. The points were wrapped up five minutes before half-time through Carlos Tevez. Chelsea now sit two points behind Tottenham in fourth place.
Newcastle 4-2 Southampton: Newcastle go three points ahead of Southampton and crucially six points clear of the relegation zone. The loss for Southampton means they still only sit three points above the bottom three. Every game that Morgan Schneiderlin has scored in this season, Southampton have lost, so when he put the Saints ahead after just three minutes there may have been a few nervous faces. The inevitable happened on 33-minutes when Moussa Sissoko levelled before Papiss Cisse produced a moment of magic to smash Newcastle in front three minutes from time. Southampton were level five minutes into the second half when Rickie Lambert netted 100th goal for Southampton. Danny Fox then conceded a penalty on 67-minutes for handling in the box. Yohan Cabaye stepped up and coolly converted to put Newcastle back in front. The win was secured 11-minutes before the end when Fox's clearance smashed into Jos Hooiveld and into the net, Hooiveld's third own goal of the season.
Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa: Arsenal move to within two points of Chelsea in the battle for fourth. The defeat for Villa sees them slip back into the bottom three on goal difference. Arsenal took the lead after just six minutes when Santi Cazorla scored his tenth goal of the season. Arsenal's bad week looked like it was going to continue when Villa broke and Andreas Weimann's shot went through Wojiech Sczcesny on 68-minutes, his tenth of the season, but the keeper should have done better. But Szczesny's blushes were spared five minutes from time when Nacho Monreal's pull back was slotted home by Cazorla. Next week's North London derby may be one of the biggest between Arsenal and Spurs in recent history.
QPR 0-2 Manchester United: United remain 12-points clear whereas QPR remain seven points from safety. It took 23-minutes for United to take the lead; Robin Van Persie smashed a low cross that was parried by Julio Cesar for Rafael to smash a 25-yard effort right into the top corner, just his fifth goal in 121-appearances. The bad news for United was that Van Persie was later substituted in the first half after a collision with a cameraman in which he hurt his back. The points were sealed ten minutes from time when Ryan Giggs scored his second Premier League goal in a row after Nani played a neat ball to beat the offside trap.
Reading 0-3 Wigan: Wigan move out of the relegation zone on goal difference after this colossal victory over fellow relegation candidates. The defeat for Reading isn't catastrophic as they still only sit a point behind Villa and Wigan. The visitors crucially took the in the final minute of normal time in the first half when Maynor Figueroa's header from an undefended corner hit Arouna Kone which diverted it into the net. Kone then made it 2-0 in injury time when Jean Beausejour found an exquisite ball to break the offside trap and the Ivorian cheekily chipped the diving Adam Federici. It became 3-0 just three minutes into the second half when a neat one-two between Franco Di Santo and Figueroa saw the latter finish coolly between Federici's legs. The mountain became too high to climb for Reading as the half had only been going ten minutes before Pavel Pogrebnyak was shown a straight red for a striker's lunge into the ankle of Figueroa.
Norwich 2-1 Everton: Two late goals from Norwich sees them move eight points clear of the bottom three. The defeat for Everton means they slip to five points behind Arsenal in sixth place. Everton took the lead six minutes before half-time when Leighton Baines' cross was headed home by Leon Osman. Norwich equalised when Kei Kamara headed a corner home for his first ever goal in England. Grant Holt then won the game with virtually the last kick when Kamara's header down was prodded home by the Norwich captain, his fifth of the season.
West Brom 2-1 Sunderland: Sunderland sit just five points clear of the relegation zone after another defeat. It was another Romelu Lukaku show which began ten minutes before half time when Craig Gardner was adjudged to have handled in the box. The young Belgian stepped and dispatched it down the middle. Lukaku then made it 2-0 when a poor back pass from Titus Bramble allowed him to get the run of Simon Mignolet. Mignolet did actually get to the ball first but his clearance smacked Lukaku and went in to the net with 15-minutes to play. Sunderland managed to pull one back four minutes later when Stephane Sessegnon's curling effort deflected off Jonas Olsson before going in. But West Brom held on to move up to seventh.
Fulham 1-0 Stoke: Fulham move to within a point of Stoke and eight points clear of safety after this close fought victory. The only goal of the game came in first half injury time when Dimitar Berbatov smashed a wonderful effort past Asmir Begovic. Stoke's best chance to equalise came ten minutes into the second half when Ashkan Dejagah handled in the area. Jon Walters stepped up and it would have found the bottom except for Mark Schwarzer guessing right and stopping the placed effort.
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