Crystal Palace and Bournemouth took huge strides towards Premier League survival but West Bromwich Albion look doomed after suffering a seventh successive defeat on Saturday.
Crystal Palace and Bournemouth took huge strides towards Premier League survival but West Bromwich Albion look doomed after suffering a seventh successive defeat on Saturday.
Having dropped back into the bottom three during a seven-match winless run, Palace climbed out of it with an impressive 2-0 victory at Huddersfield Town who are also too close to the drop zone for comfort.
James Tomkins put Palace ahead in the 23rd minute and skipper Luka Milivojevic's 68th-minute penalty secured the win on a snowy day across the country.
"To get a victory today in them conditions was very, very good. The lads put in a great shift today," Tomkins said. "It will go to the wire but that was a massive win for us."
Bournemouth trailed at West Brom to Jay Rodriguez's 49th-minute opener but long-range goals from Jordon Ibe and Junior Stanislas earned the three points which put them within sight of a fourth successive top-flight season.
They edged up to 11th in the table, eight points above Southampton who slipped below Palace into the final relegation spot because they are not in league action this weekend.
Palace rose to 16th place with 30 points from 31 games, above West Ham on goal difference although the Hammers have played a game less. Southampton have 28, also from a match less.
Second-bottom Stoke City's relegation fears grew as they went down 2-1 at home to Everton after having Charlie Adam sent off in the first half for a foul on Wayne Rooney.
Two goals by Cenk Tosun gave Everton rare away cheer, ending a run of five successive defeats on the road.
Stoke, who have 27 points, had equalised through Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's close-range finish but ultimately paid the price for their numerical inferiority.
"Charlie apologised, we've not spoken too much about it to be honest but he has apologised either way," said Stoke's England keeper Jack Butland, who was at fault for the first Everton goal.
"It will hurt him and it hurts us but we need to stop making it so difficult for ourselves."
Liverpool moved back into third place with victory over Watford later on Saturday.
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