Aston Villa 0-1 Manchester City: City close the gap once again to 12-points with an extremely close win over Villa. The only goal of the game came crucially in first half injury time when Ciaran Clark was dispossessed by Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian ran through on goal before squaring to Carlos Tevez and the Argentine rounded Brad Guzan to slot home. The defeat for Villa keeps them in the bottom three on goal difference with two crucial games against Reading and QPR coming up.
Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal: Spurs reclaim third spot after winning one of the most crucial North London derbies for a long time. The victory puts them seven points clear of Arsenal and step closer to finishing above them for the first time since 1995. Too high defending eight minutes before half-time allowed Gylfi Sigurdsson to slide the ball through for, who else, Gareth Bale to score his 16th goal of the season and become the first Welshman to do so in the Premiership. It was deja vu two minutes later as Scott Parker was able to play Aaron Lennon through the open defence and double the lead. Arsenal threatened a comeback when Per Mertesacker's header took a deflection from a corner six minutes into the second half. But Arsenal didn't find an equaliser and now slip five points behind Chelsea. The win means that Spurs have now been unbeaten in their last 12-league games, which is a record for them.
Southampton 1-2 QPR: In the battle of the birthday boys, Harry Redknapp managed to out fox Mauricio Pochettino to put QPR four points from safety. The deadlock was broken when Loic Remy scored for his second away game in a row on 14-minutes. Southampton were level in first half injury time when a Julio Cesar parry was pounced upon by Gaston Ramirez who cheekily chipped the rushing Cesar. The winner came 13-minutes from the end when Ji-Sung Park's cross was tapped home by Jay Bothroyd. Southampton remain three points clear of the relegation zone.
Manchester United 4-0 Norwich: With the hype all about Ryan Giggs making his 1000th senior appearance, there was a lot of disappointment to see the winger left out of the squad and rested for the game against Real Madrid. But United carried on without him and ended up easing to maintain their 12-point gap. United took the lead in first half injury time when Robin Van Persie's flick was tapped home by Shinji Kagawa. Norwich were the last team to beat United in the league and should have levelled before United took a 2-0 lead on 76-minutes when Wayne Rooney's pull back was coolly converted by Kagawa for his second of the game. The Japanese midfielder had only scored two goals for United before today and that soon became five when he scored his hat-trick three minutes before the end, exquisitely chipping Mark Bunn after a good move. But the best goal came in injury time with Rooney finding a fantastic dipping shot from 25-yards. Norwich remain eight points above the bottom three.
Wigan 0-4 Liverpool: A Luis Suarez hat-trick keeps Wigan just above the relegation on goal difference. Stewart Downing opened the scoring by heading home from a Philippe Coutinho cross after just two minutes. Suarez's first game came on 18-minutes when Coutinho slid the ball through to the Uruguayan to waited for Ali Al-Habsi to dive before slotting home. The third came 11-minutes before half-time when Suarez's deflected cross hit the post and went in. The hat-trick was completed four minutes into the second half when Glen Johnson played him through down the wing for Suarez to cut inside and finish between Al-Habsi's legs. The win keeps Liverpool in seventh and three points behind Everton.
Everton 3-1 Reading: Everton go two points behind Arsenal and five behind Chelsea in the race for Europe while Reading remain a point from safety. Marouane Fellaini headed Everton ahead from a Seamus Coleman cross three minutes before half-time. Steven Pienaar smashed Everton 2-0 in front with a great effort from 20-yards 14-minutes in to the second half. The points were sealed on 66-minutes when Kevin Mirallas played a neat one-two with Pienaar to cut the defence open for Mirallas to slot home. Reading managed to score a consolation six minutes before the end with Hal Robson-Kanu headed a cross home.
Sunderland 2-2 Fulham: Fulham remain three points ahead of Sunderland after a point at the Stadium of Light. The deadlock was broken after 16-minutes when Ashkan Dejagah was lightly tripped by Craig Gardner in the box. Dimitar Berbatov stepped up and nonchalantly converted into the bottom corner. It was 2-0 ten minutes before half-time when Dejagah's effort was parried in to the path of Sascha Riether to score his first Fulham goal. Sunderland pulled one back two minutes later when Philippe Senderos was adjudged to have fouled Gardner. Gardner then stepped up and also finished the spot-kick. The point was earned 20-minutes from the end when a counter attack, which started from a brilliant Simon Mignolet save, saw the ball end up coming back to Stephane Sessegnon on the edge of the box and the Frenchman slotted home. Sunderland remain six points clear of relegation with Fulham a further three points ahead.
Chelsea 1-0 West Brom: Chelsea remain fourth and two points behind Tottenham with a tight fought victory over West Brom. The only goal of the game came on 28-minutes when David Luiz beat Ben Foster in the air to head back for Demba Ba to tap home. West Brom are now well and truly looking like a settled, mid-table team on 40-points and away from the battles for Europe and relegation.
Stoke 0-1 West Ham: West Ham move level on points with Stoke with this victory in the Britannia. The winner came crucially in first half injury time when Jack Collison was played through by Ricardo Vaz Te for him to slot home. Both teams sit nine points above the relegation zone and still aren't totally safe with ten games remaining.
Swansea 1-0 Newcastle: The League Cup winners returned the league with a win over the in form Newcastle. The only goal of the game came five minutes before the end when poor defending from a cross saw the ball break loose for Luke Moore to finish from close range. The defeat sees Newcastle remain six points above the bottom three with Swansea hitting the magic 40-mark.
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