London, England – A second-half goal from Branislav Ivanovic lifted Chelsea to a 2-1 win over Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, allowing the Blues to climb to third place in the Premiership table.
The match marked the debut of Paolo Di Canio as Sunderland manager, and he saw his team take a 1-0 lead into halftime when Adam Johnson's free kick was flicked on by John O'Shea, forcing Cesar Azpilicueta to redirect the ball into his own net.
It was a nice break for the Black Cats, but they soon returned the favor early in the second half when goalkeeper Simon Mignolet came off his line to cut out a chance for Oscar. He knocked the ball away from the Brazilian but straight into his own defender, Matthew Kilgallon, who knocked it over the goal line for an own goal.
The decisive moment came in the 55th minute when a long-range shot from David Luiz was cleverly turned past Mignolet by a back heel from Ivanovic, who redirected the shot from the middle of the penalty area.
Johnson had the best chance at an equalizer for Sunderland, but his shot was curled past the post, leaving the team without a win from its last nine games and above the relegation places on only goal difference.
Tottenham 2, Everton 2
London, England - Gylfi Sigurdsson's 87th-minute goal salvaged a 2-2 draw for Tottenham against Everton in a spirited affair at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Playing without the influential Gareth Bale, Tottenham needed another player to step up and assume the scoring load.
It took just 35 seconds for Emmanuel Adebayor to put the home side in front, but the Toffees responded with goals from Phil Jagielka and Kevin Mirallas to give the visitors a 2-1 halftime advantage.
Everton looked to be on the verge of claiming a fourth straight win, but Adebayor found himself space inside the penalty area to fire a shot off the right post, which caromed into the path of Sigurdsson for a simple shot into the empty net.
Spurs dropped behind Chelsea on goal difference with the result and sit in fourth place, two points clear of fifth-place Arsenal with one more game played.
Liverpool 0, West Ham 0
Liverpool, England - Liverpool's bid for a top-six place took another hit on Sunday as the club was held to a 0-0 draw at Anfield by a stubborn West Ham side.
A disappointing defeat against Southampton a few weeks ago damaged the hopes of a top-six finish for the Reds, and they were unable to produce the one moment of magic needed to see a way past the Hammers.
Steven Gerrard had Liverpool's best chance when he beat goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen with a shot that was cleared off the goal line by West Ham defender James Collins.
But despite outplaying West Ham for large spells of the game, Liverpool needed a goal line clearance from Lucas Leiva to deny the winning goal for West Ham's Jack Collison five minutes from time.
QPR 1, Wigan 1
London, England - Shaun Maloney scored deep into stoppage time to hand Wigan a vital point in a 1-1 draw with QPR at Loftus Road on Sunday, potentially dealing a fatal blow to the survival hopes of the hosts.
QPR put in a great effort on Sunday as the club played the final 70 minutes of the match with 10 men after Bobby Zamora was sent off for a high kick to the head of Wigan's Jordi Gomez.
But despite playing down a man, QPR took a surprising 1-0 lead in the 85th minute with a fine effort from Loic Remy, who hammered a first-time shot past goalkeeper Joel Robles after being teed up by Stephane Mbia.
A win would have been a massive lift for Harry Redknapp's side, but Maloney drew a foul near the top of the penalty area in stoppage time and he stepped up and curled home the free kick from 20 yards that leaves Wigan in the bottom three on only goal difference.
QPR sits seven points from safety with six games to play.
Newcastle 1, Fulham 0
Newcastle, England - Papiss Cisse netted a crucial goal in stoppage time to hand Newcastle a 1-0 victory against Fulham at St James' Park on Sunday.
Newcastle had lost three of its last four games and was in danger of being dragged into the relegation fight with another poor result.
The home side dominated for most of the match but failed to take advantage of a myriad of chances, with Cisse especially wasteful.
However, the striker made up for his struggles in front of goal three minutes into stoppage time when he created room in the middle of the penalty area to slide a shot past goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, snapping Fulham's five-game unbeaten run and lifting Newcastle five points above the drop zone.
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