London, England – Arsenal scored three goals in the final five minutes of play on Saturday to snatch a 3-1 victory over Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium, propelling the Gunners up to third place in the Premiership in the process.
After a scoreless first 45 minutes, Norwich City got off the mark first in the 56th minute when Michael Turner rushed into the box completely unmarked and powered a header past Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
It looked as though Arsenal's Champions League dreams for next season were set to take a major hit, but the Gunners roared to life with five minutes to play, beginning with a controversial decision from the assistant referee.
Norwich City's Kei Kamara was whistled for pulling down Olivier Giroud in the penalty area during a corner kick. The referee hesitated to point to the spot, but his assistant on the sideline quickly made the call, awarding the kick to Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta buried the shot to give the Gunners a big boost of momentum.
Just three minutes later Arsenal took the lead for good when Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain whipped a cross into the box and it hit off Canaries defender Sebastian Bassong and into the net.
Arsenal finished it off in style in stoppage time as Lukas Podolski corralled a pass from Theo Walcott outside the box and calmly fired it past Norwich goalkeeper Mark Bunn to secure three huge points and its fourth successive league win.
Norwich remains in 14th place with the loss, four points clear of the bottom three.
Aston Villa 1, Fulham 1
Birmingham, England - Aston Villa wasted an opportunity to move further clear of the drop zone after settling for a 1-1 draw with Fulham on Saturday at Villa Park.
After a scoreless first half, the hosts broke through in the 55th minute when Charles N'Zogbia blasted one past Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer from the left side of the penalty area.
The Villans looked poised to take all three points, but Fulham picked up an equalizer in the 66th minute after a corner kick for the Cottagers deflected off Villa's Fabian Delph and wound up in the back of the net to put the sides on level terms.
Aston Villa improves to 34 points from 33 matches, three clear of the relegation zone, while Fulham remains mid-table with 40 points.
Everton 2, QPR 0
Liverpool, England - Everton moved to within three points of a Europa League position on Saturday after posting a comfortable 2-0 win over relegation- battling Queens Park Rangers at Goodison Park.
The Toffees opened the scoring five minutes before the intermission when Darren Gibson got on the end of a shot outside the QPR penalty area and ripped it low into the right corner to make it 1-0.
Everton made it a two-goal margin in the 56th minute as Victor Anichebe beat QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar with a quick shot from close range.
Everton improves to 55 points from 32 matches, three behind idle Tottenham for fifth place, while QPR appears headed for relegation in 19th place with 24 points.
Reading 0, Liverpool 0
Reading, England - Liverpool's maddeningly inconsistent campaign continued on Saturday as the Reds were held to a scoreless draw by bottom-of-the-table Reading at the Madejski Stadium.
After being held to a goalless stalemate last week against West Ham, Liverpool enter Saturday hoping to pounce on the struggling Royals.
Liverpool has the better of the play all afternoon, putting 28 shots in the direction of goal and 11 on target, but Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy made several outstanding saves to make sure his side got a least a point.
Liverpool stays in seventh place with the result, while Reading remains at the foot of the table on 24 points.
Southampton 1, West Ham 1
Southampton, England - Andy Carroll's second-half goal rescued a point for West Ham in a 1-1 draw with Southampton on Saturday at St. Mary's Stadium.
Both clubs struggled to find chances in the first half and went into the break scoreless, but the home side broke through in the 59th minute when Gaston Ramirez blasted a left-footed strike into the top right corner to give the Saints the lead.
Seven minutes later, however, West Ham found its equalizer as Carroll fired a well-struck, left-footed shot past Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc to make it 1-1.
The result gives Southampton 38 points from 33 matches, good for 11th place, while the Hammers sit in 12th place with 38 points.
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