Villa subdue Newcastle to stay in title hunt, Chelsea pile pain on Palace
Aston Villa beat Newcastle on Sunday to close within four points of the Gunners.
Villa's impressive 2-0 victory at Newcastle - their first victory at St. James' Park for 21 years - took Unai Emery's men level on points with Manchester City, whose own title chances were boosted by Arsenal's 3-2 loss to Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.
Emiliano Buendia's brilliant strike from outside the box opened the scoring before Ollie Watkins secured victory when the England international headed in Lucas Digne's cross two minutes from time.
Newcastle slip to ninth but still only four points outside the top five, which will likely be enough for a place in the Champions League.
Chelsea piled more pain on Crystal Palace with a 3-1 win at Selhurst Park.
Oliver Glasner promised to do his best to turn around a miserable run for the Eagles despite announcing he will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season.
The Austrian was furious at the manner club captain Marc Guehi was allowed to depart for Manchester City earlier this week and could also lose star striker Jean-Philippe Mateta before the transfer window closes.
Palace never recovered after a wayward back-pass from Jaydee Canvot freed Estevao to sprint clear and fire in Chelsea's opener on 34 minutes.
The Brazilian then set up compatriot Joao Pedro to gallop in behind the Palace defence and double the Blues' advantage just after half-time.
Enzo Fernandez's penalty rounded off a fourth win in five games for Liam Rosenior since he took charge at Stamford Bridge.
After 11 games without a win, the Eagles are now looking over their shoulder, just eight points above the relegation zone.
Nottingham Forest gave their survival chances a huge boost by inflicting just a second home defeat of the season on Brentford.
Forest moved five points clear of the drop zone with a 2-0 win in west London thanks to goals from Igor Jesus and Taiwo Awoniyi.