Manchester City strengthened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-0 win at home to West Ham on Sunday, but at the cost of seeing David Silva carried off on a stretcher. Meanwhile Tottenham Hotspur's bid for European football next season was boosted by a 3-1 victory away to Newcastle United.
Influential Spanish playmaker Silva was on the receiving end of what appeared an accidental elbow from West Ham's Cheikhou Kouyate midway through the second half and needed lengthy treatment on the field before being taken off amid fears he could miss the rest of the season.
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Tottenham's Harry Kane were both on target on Sunday - the pair are joint top-scorers in the Premier League with 20 goals apiece. Reigning champions City's hopes of a successful title defence were all but over before last week's 4-2 derby defeat by Manchester United.
Only the top four clubs at the end of the season enter the Champions League, with the Premier League's fourth-placed side having to first take part in a qualifying round. Spurs's win saw them climb into sixth position, level on points with Liverpool.
City's win was timely for their under-pressure manager Manuel Pellegrini, but afterwards he was more concerned about Silva than his own future.
"At this moment he (Silva) is in hospital and they are checking if he has a broken bone in his cheek," Pellegrini told Sky Sports.
Reflecting on the result, Pellegrini said: "It was important to win because we come from two defeats."
As for his own job prospects, the Chilean simply added: "No comments about that."
City went ahead in the 18th minute when West Ham defender James Collins sliced Jesus Navas's cross over the head of goalkeeper Adrian, the ball bouncing off the underside of the crossbar for a spectacular own-goal.
But there was no denying the quality of City's second goal, nine minutes before half-time.
Yaya Toure won the ball from West Ham and England winger Stewart Downing to launch a rapid counter-attack.
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