Man Utd claimed a crucial win over Tottenham, while Arsenal took control of the race for fourth.
first-half penalty to give the Black Cats the edge, only for Stephane Sessegnon to be sent off for violent conduct just before the hour mark. It looked as though Sunderland would withstand a late onslaught, especially when Simon Mignolet saved Demba Ba's spot-kick, but substitute Shola Ameobi had the last laugh with a 90th-minute equaliser.
Wolves woe
At the bottom of the table it was a bad weekend for
Wolves, who slipped behind a couple of their fellow strugglers after
going down 5-0 at
Fulham. Pavel Pogrebnyak has proved to be one of the most astute signings of the January transfer window and he netted a 'perfect' hat-trick by scoring with his head, right foot and left foot to send the Cottagers on their way to eighth in the table. Clint Dempsey also carried on his rich vein of form with two goals, including a stunning second which came at the end of a glorious passing move.
With Bolton losing at Manchester City,
Wigan missed the chance to move off the foot of the division as they
lost 2-0 at home to
Swansea. Gylfi Sigurdsson was the star of the show with a couple of fantastic long-range strikes as the Welsh side piled the pressure on former manager Roberto Martinez and continued to improve their own away record. The Latics were given a possible lifeline when Nathan Dyer was shown a red card with half an hour still to go, but they were devoid of any sort of cutting edge.
Queens Park Rangers ended the weekend just outside the drop zone after holding
Everton to a
1-1 draw at Loftus Road. Both the goals arrived in the first half, with Royston Drenthe's thunderous piledriver from distance putting the Toffees ahead before Bobby Zamora scored a headed equaliser. QPR had an opportunity to go in front but Akos Buzsaky somehow hit the post from a couple of yards out with the goal seemingly at his mercy.
Blackburn are level on points with Mark Hughes' side, just above the bottom three on goal difference, following a
1-1 draw of their own at home to
Aston Villa. Charles N'Zogbia's fine finish opened the scoring and it looked like Villa would hold on to ease the pressure on manager Alex McLeish, but David Dunn stepped off the substitutes' bench for Rovers to nick a share of the spoils.
Stoke got the better of
Norwich 1-0 to clamber above their opponents in a congested mid-table. Matt Etherington scored the only goal of the game 18 minutes from time after being found by substitute Cameron Jerome's header, with a shot from a tight angle which Canaries keeper John Ruddy may feel he should have done better with.
first-half penalty to give the Black Cats the edge, only for Stephane Sessegnon to be sent off for violent conduct just before the hour mark. It looked as though Sunderland would withstand a late onslaught, especially when Simon Mignolet saved Demba Ba's spot-kick, but substitute Shola Ameobi had the last laugh with a 90th-minute equaliser.
Wolves woe
At the bottom of the table it was a bad weekend for
Wolves, who slipped behind a couple of their fellow strugglers after
going down 5-0 at
Fulham. Pavel Pogrebnyak has proved to be one of the most astute signings of the January transfer window and he netted a 'perfect' hat-trick by scoring with his head, right foot and left foot to send the Cottagers on their way to eighth in the table. Clint Dempsey also carried on his rich vein of form with two goals, including a stunning second which came at the end of a glorious passing move.
With Bolton losing at Manchester City,
Wigan missed the chance to move off the foot of the division as they
lost 2-0 at home to
Swansea. Gylfi Sigurdsson was the star of the show with a couple of fantastic long-range strikes as the Welsh side piled the pressure on former manager Roberto Martinez and continued to improve their own away record. The Latics were given a possible lifeline when Nathan Dyer was shown a red card with half an hour still to go, but they were devoid of any sort of cutting edge.
Queens Park Rangers ended the weekend just outside the drop zone after holding
Everton to a
1-1 draw at Loftus Road. Both the goals arrived in the first half, with Royston Drenthe's thunderous piledriver from distance putting the Toffees ahead before Bobby Zamora scored a headed equaliser. QPR had an opportunity to go in front but Akos Buzsaky somehow hit the post from a couple of yards out with the goal seemingly at his mercy.
Blackburn are level on points with Mark Hughes' side, just above the bottom three on goal difference, following a
1-1 draw of their own at home to
Aston Villa. Charles N'Zogbia's fine finish opened the scoring and it looked like Villa would hold on to ease the pressure on manager Alex McLeish, but David Dunn stepped off the substitutes' bench for Rovers to nick a share of the spoils.
Stoke got the better of
Norwich 1-0 to clamber above their opponents in a congested mid-table. Matt Etherington scored the only goal of the game 18 minutes from time after being found by substitute Cameron Jerome's header, with a shot from a tight angle which Canaries keeper John Ruddy may feel he should have done better with.
