Sunderland, Newcastle grab survival lifelines with impressive wins
Norwich City 0, Sunderland 3
Sunderland grabbed a survival lifeline as goals from Fabio Borini, Jermain Defoe and Duncan Watmore secured a priceless 3-0 win at relegation rivals Norwich.
Defeat for the Black Cats would have left them seven points adrift of Norwich and safety, with boss Sam Allardyce facing the drop from the Premier League for the first time in his career.
But Borini's first-half penalty and second-half strikes from Defoe and Watmore means Allardyce has reeled in the Canaries to within a point - and his side have a game in hand.
Newcastle United 3, Swansea 0
January signing Andros Townsend turned in a man of the match display to hand birthday boy Rafael Benitez his first win as Newcastle grabbed a Barclays Premier League lifeline.
Townsend, a £12million January signing from Tottenham, set up Jamaal Lascelles and skipper Moussa Sissoko either side of the break and then added a third himself with a minute remaining as the Magpies secured a first victory since February 6 to keep alive their hopes of avoiding the drop.
Swansea gave as good as they got for long periods in the game, but could do nothing to prevent Benitez's men from collecting a first win in April since 2013 and send home the locals among a crowd of 48,949 with hope.
Everton 1, Southampton 1
Everton's problems at Goodison Park continued as their inability to hold onto a lead cost them a much-needed home win ahead of a pivotal week and led to one disgruntled fan confronting Roberto Martinez on the pitch following a 1-1 draw with Southampton.
Defender Ramiro Funes Mori went from hero to villain in the space of eight second-half minutes as his missed tackle allowed Saints striker Sadio Mane to cancel out his earlier goal.
Discontent at their underachievement has been growing on the blue half of Merseyside in recent weeks with Martinez the target of increasing criticism.
West Brom 0, Watford 1
Heurelho Gomes was Watford's hero as he saved two second-half penalties in a 1-0 win at West Brom.
Gomes had been in fine form all afternoon, producing smart saves to twice thwart Stephane Sessegnon in the first half and acrobatically deny Gareth McAluey shortly after half-time.
But the Brazilian saved his best work to torment Saido Berahino. First he made amends for his own error by diving to his right to beat away the West Brom striker's first penalty after 67 minutes and then repeated the feat 20 minutes later, launching himself the other way to palm away the spot-kick.
His heroics ensured that Ben Watson's 27th-minute goal would be enough for Watford to earn all three points and record only a third victory in their last 16 Barclays Premier League outings.
Chelsea 0, Manchester City 3
LONDON (AP) -- Sergio Aguero scored a hat trick to cap Manchester City's best week of the season, a 3-0 victory against a toothless Chelsea fortifying his team's grip on England's Champions League places on Saturday.
City might still win European football's top prize after advancing this week to the semifinals where the team will play Real Madrid.
City's domestic form is far healthier. For the first time this season, manager Manuel Pellegrini's team is celebrating three consecutive league wins and is up to provisional third.
For Chelsea, this was the 11th loss of a woeful defense of the Premier League title.
Aguero's first two goals completed counterattacks launched by Kevin De Bruyne. The third came from a penalty after Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was dismissed for clipping Fernandinho.
