Leaders Manchester City shrugged off a bitterly disappointing week to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Wembley on Saturday and move to within three points of sealing the Premier League title.
Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Ilkay Gundogan slotted home a penalty three minutes later after Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris raced out of his goal and upended Raheem Sterling on the edge of the area.
Christian Eriksen’s goal shortly before halftime offered fourth-placed Tottenham a route back into the game but Sterling lashed home from close range in the 72nd minute.
City may well have to wait another week to start celebrating a third title in seven seasons although it could happen as soon as Sunday in the unlikely event of Manchester United losing at home to bottom club West Bromwich Albion.
Chelsea scored three time in nine frenetic second-half minutes to win 3-2 at Southampton who are now five points from Premier League safety after relegation rivals Crystal Palace beat Brighton & Hove Albion by the same score at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
With Huddersfield winning 1-0 against Watford and 17th-placed Swansea drawing 1-1 with Everton, the Saints are in real danger of losing their five-year Premier League status. If they do, they will rue Saturday’s game at St Mary’s in which they were coasting at 2-0 until Olivier Giroud came on as a 61st-minute substitute.
First, Giroud expertly met a cross from Marcos Alonso, who was lucky to be on the pitch after stamping on Shane Long in the first half, and then he fired in a low shot for his first league goals for Chelsea. In between, Eden Hazard scored from close range as Southampton conceded three goals for the fourth successive game.
“As has been the case all year, apparently we’ve got a soft underbelly,” said Saints manager Mark Hughes, who is in danger of suffering his first-ever managerial relegation. “When the momentum shifts against us we can’t get a platform and wait until the momentum swings our way again.”
The action was just as furious at Selhurst Park with all the goals coming in the opening 34 minutes. Wilfried Zaha scored his first-ever league double as Palace twice took a two-goal lead but each time Brighton, who had previously scored only seven times away all season, narrowed the difference through former Palace favourite Glenn Murray and a sublime finish from Jose Izquierdo.
The win left Palace in 16th place, six points clear of Southampton.
Huddersfield’s win came in injury time via a Tom Ince shot, a goal that sparked wild celebrations among the players and home fans.
Huddersfield rise to 14th with 35 points, which may already be enough for safety although their difficult run-in pits them against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in their final three games.
Jordan Ayew returned from a three-match ban to put Swansea level at Everton who had been gifted the lead through a Kyle Naughton own goal. Although Seamus Coleman hit the bar for Everton late on, the visitors again failed to impress and some fans chanted for manager Sam Allardyce to be sacked even though their side sit comfortably in ninth place.
Burnley earned their fifth straight league win with a 2-1 victory over Leicester City at Turf Moor to boost their chances of possible Europa League qualification.
Mohamed Salah joined two Liverpool greats as he scored his 40th goal of a superb season in his side’s 3-0 rout of Bournemouth to consolidate third spot in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Egyptian headed in his side’s second in the 69th minute to join Ian Rush and Roger Hunt — the only other Liverpool players to reach 40 goals in a single season.
Rush, who managed the feat twice, holds the record of 47 goals in the 1983-84 season but Salah, the first African player to hit 30 Premier League goals in a season, now has that mark firmly in his sights.
Victory kept third-placed Liverpool 10 points above fifth-placed Chelsea with four games left, although Chelsea have a game in hand on Juergen Klopp’s side.