Leicester City turned up the heat in the Premier League’s top-four battle as they struck late t
o earn a 2-1 victory at relegation-threatened Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Daniel Amartey’s 88th-minute header completed a comeback win for Leicester who stretched their unbeaten away run to 10 games.
Earlier Southampton ended a horrendous run of form as they beat bottom club Sheffield United 2-0.
Skipper James Ward-Prowse’s first-half penalty and a thunderbolt from Che Adams secured Southampton’s first win in 10 games to calm the jitters and move the Saints 10 points clear of the relegation places.
“There are still a lot of games to go. We’ve been much higher in the table then we had this negative run. It’s important we can turn it round now,” Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuettl said after his 100th game in charge.
Burnley also secured an important point in their quest to stay clear of trouble as they drew 1-1 with Arsenal.
A dreadful defensive error by Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka gifted Burnley an equaliser at Turf Moor after the visitors had taken the lead early on through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Ninth-placed Aston Villa’s hopes of re-igniting their own top-four hopes were frustrated as they struck the woodwork twice in the opening 16 minutes in a 0-0 draw at home to Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Manchester City’s relentless march towards the Premier League title was interrupted as their 21-match winning streak in all competitions was ended by a surprise 2-0 home defeat to rivals Manchester United on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s side could have few complaints as a second-minute penalty converted by Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw’s fine finish early in the second half earned United a surprise win.
While City still lead the table by 11 points with 10 games left, second-placed United showed there are chinks in the armour of Guardiola’s side as they ended a disappointing run of results against the so-called big six.
Fulham’s win moved them level on points with 17th-placed Brighton and Hove Albion and only one point behind Newcastle United, who could only manage a 0-0 draw with second-from-bottom West Bromwich Albion.
West Ham United maintained their push for a top-four finish as goals by Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson earned them a 2-0 home victory over Leeds United in the Premier League on Monday (Mar 8).
Lingard converted a rebound from his own saved penalty in the 21st minute for his fourth goal in six appearances since arriving on loan from Manchester United.
Dawson headed in West Ham’s second goal seven minutes later to help his side up to fifth spot with 48 points from 27 games.
David Moyes’s side are two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea having played a game less.
Leeds twice had goals ruled out before West Ham scored and squandered several good opportunities to get back into the game.
In the end a frustrating night for Marcelo Bielsa’s side left them in 11th spot.Chelsea extended their impressive turnaround under new coach Thomas Tuchel with a 2-0 home win over in-form Everton on Monday as Kai Havertz played a key role in both goals on his return to the starting 11.
The German had struggled to show why Chelsea paid a reported 71 million pounds ($98 million) for him last year. But it was his shot that Everton defender Ben Godfrey turned into his own net in the 31st minute after a Marcos Alonso cross.In the 64th minute, Havertz raced on to a long ball from Mateo Kovacic and was brought down by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Jorginho scored from the spot after his trademark skip and jump to send Pickford the wrong way.
Havertz had put the ball in the back of the net himself in the 53rd minute but a VAR check confirmed that he used his arm to control the ball before turning and striking it past Pickford.
The England goalkeeper pulled off a string of saves to prevent Everton – who had won their previous three matches without conceding a goal – from going down to a heavier defeat.
Everton wasted their only real chance to get themselves back in the game when Richarlison miscued as he shot from a promising position in the box, shortly before Chelsea went 2-0 up.
The win tightened Chelsea’s grip on fourth place in the Premier League table, four points ahead of Everton who remained in fifth position ahead of West Ham United’s match later on Monday against Leeds United.
It was the sixth win in nine league games for the Blues since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in late January and Chelsea have drawn the other three, conceding only two goals.
