Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford continued their push for Europe by beating teams battling relegation, overcoming Crystal Palace and Southampton respectively.
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Palace started strongly against their arch-rivals and had the better early chances, but it was Brighton who took the lead on 15 minutes.
A perfectly weighted pass from Kaoru Mitoma found the run of Solly March, who fired low into the bottom corner past Palace's 19-year-old debutant goalkeeper Joe Whitworth.
Whitworth, standing in for the injured Vicente Guaita, denied Pervis Estupinan and Alexis Mac Allister in the second half, and Naouirou Ahamada missed a big chance to equalise in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Brighton climb to seventh with 42 points, staying just ahead of Brentford and moving six points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with two matches in hand.
Palace are winless in 11 Premier League matches and goalless in four, staying just three points above the relegation zone.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
38 | +35 | 71 |
| 5 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +28 | 67 |
| 6 |
Brighton
BHA
|
38 | +19 | 62 |
| 7 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +5 | 61 |
| 8 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +7 | 60 |
| 9 |
Brentford
BRE
|
38 | +12 | 59 |
Goals from Ivan Toney and Yoane Wissa returned Brentford to winning ways as they earned a 2-0 victory at Southampton.
After their 12-match unbeaten run was ended at Everton on Saturday, the Bees made the breakthrough at St Mary's Stadium just past the half-hour mark.
Christian Norgaard's clever flick from a corner fell to Toney, who netted from close range for his 16th Premier League goal of the season.
Thomas Frank's side would have to wait until the seventh minute of stoppage time to double their lead, as Toney's flicked header found Wissa, who ran clean through and finished calmly.
Southampton remain bottom on 22 points but are only five points behind 12th-placed Palace in a fiercely contested relegation fight.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
38 | -9 | 44 |
| 13 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -27 | 41 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
38 | -13 | 40 |
| 15 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -34 | 39 |
| 16 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -30 | 38 |
| 17 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -23 | 36 |
| 18 |
Leicester
LEI
|
38 | -17 | 34 |
| 19 |
Leeds
LEE
|
38 | -30 | 31 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
38 | -37 | 25 |