Liverpool moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League after they beat Newcastle United 5-1 and second-placed Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw at neighbours Fulham on Sunday.
Arsenal ended a run of three successive draws to beat Portsmouth 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium with a late goal from William Gallas to pull level on points with Aston Villa and Manchester United, neither of whom were playing.
Liverpool lead the standings with 45 points from 20 matches, three ahead of Chelsea (42), followed by United, Villa and Arsenal, all on 35 points, although United currently have three games in hand on the leaders.
At the other end of the table, West Bromwich Albion beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 with both goals coming in the closing stages to move off the bottom although Blackburn Rovers could put them back there if they beat Manchester City later on Sunday (1615).
In the other afternoon matches, Wigan Athletic won 1-0 at Bolton Wanderers, Everton beat Sunderland 3-0 at Goodison Park and West Ham United won at home for the first time in seven league games with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Stoke City.
The victory at St James' Park was Liverpool's biggest of the season and followed up their 3-0 demolition of Bolton Wanderers on Friday. After Gerrard and Hyypia had broken early Newcastle resistance to put Liverpool 2-0 up, Newcastle pulled one back in stoppage time at the end of the first half when David Edgar headed in from a corner.
Alonso made it 5-1 in the 76th minute after Edgar fouled David Ngog. There was a thrilling derby at Craven Cottage where Fulham took an early lead through Clint Dempsey before two goals from Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead with 17 minutes to play.
While Chelsea's title hopes were dented by a late goal, Arsenal's were kept alive by one with Gallas heading the only goal at the Emirates nine minutes from the end against Portsmouth.
Arsenal, who had drawn their last three games, held on for a victory, as the visitors, coached by former Arsenal skipper Tony Adams, were beaten for the fourth straight league match.
-- English Premier League results
-- Played on Sunday:
-- Arsenal 1 (Gallas 81) Portsmouth 0
-- Bolton 0 Wigan 1 (Zaki 44-pen)
-- Everton 3 (Arteta 10, 27, Gosling 83) Sunderland 0
-- Fulham 2 (Dempsey 10, 89) Chelsea 2 (Lampard 50, 72)
-- Newcastle 1 (Edgar 45) Liverpool 5 (Gerrard 31, 66, Hyypia 36, Babel 50, Alonso 77-pen)
-- West Brom 2 (Bednar 83, Beattie 90) Tottenham 0
-- West Ham 2 (Cole 51, Tristan 88) Stoke 1 (Faye 4).
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