Leonardo Ulloa grabbed his first Premier League goal since Boxing Day as Leicester City climbed off the bottom of the table with a vital 2-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday.
The striker ended his goal drought to claim his 10th of the season before Andy King’s late strike clinched the Foxes’ third straight win.
It is the first time they have won three in a row in the top flight since September 2000 and are now only in the relegation zone on goal difference.
Leicester deserved victory with a passionate, swashbuckling display with the superb Esteban Cambiasso at the heart of their efforts.
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But they needed Kasper Schmeichel to deny Nelson Oliveira in the second half to ensure victory.
Ulloa was originally named on the bench but David Nugent suffered a tight calf and the Argentinian replaced him at the last minute.
Marcin Wasilewski, King and Andrej Kramaric were recalled after last week’s 3-2 win at West Brom while Swansea replaced the suspended Neil Taylor and injured Bafetimbi Gomis with Jordi Amat and Oliveira.
But without front man Gomis the visitors were toothless in the first half as the Foxes bombarded them from the off.
Marc Albrighton curled wide before Leicester grabbed the breakthrough their dominance deserved after 15 minutes.
Wasilewski lofted a long ball forward for Ulloa to flick on to Wes Morgan and when the ball came back to Ulloa he drilled into the corner from 10 yards.
Jonjo Shelvey fired over as Swansea searched for a way back into the game after being outplayed for the first 25 minutes.
Gylfi Sigurdsson tried to test Schmeichel but the hosts were comfortable, although failed to find a killer second.
The Foxes continued to press after the break and Albrighton fired wide before Kramaric curled over after outpacing the Swans’ midfield.
Swansea finally forced Schmeichel into a save after 53 minutes when he turned Shelvey’s 18-yard effort away.
It was a testament to the Foxes the keeper had been so well protected but they needed a second goal and Ulloa headed onto the roof of the net and Kramaric blazed over.
But, Swansea finally began to threaten and the hosts required Schmeichel to be at his best to deny Oliveira on 66 minutes.
The striker wriggled through the Foxes’ defence with only Schmeichel to beat but the keeper denied him with his legs before gathering Shelvey’s shot a minute later.
Leicester were living dangerously and Jefferson Montero’s strike deflected over before the Foxes should have wrapped up the game.
Crystal Palace 0 West Brom 2
West Brom eased any lingering relegation doubts as coach Tony Pulis enjoyed victory over his former club Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Pulis left Selhurst Park on the eve of the new season and there was no mention of the Welshman in Palace chairman Steve Parish’s programme notes.
But any remaining bitterness felt by Pulis over his exit was eased as James Morrison headed home unmarked with 100 seconds on the clock and Craig Gardner thrashed home a trademark effort in the second half to seal a 2-0 win for West Brom - their first on the road since November.
In response, Yannick Bolasie almost added to the hat-trick he scored in Palace’s 4-1 thrashing of Sunderland last weekend but saw an audacious overhead volley saved - whilst substitute Dwight Gayle hit the crossbar and Yaya Sanogo rightly had a goal chalked-off for offside.
Everton 1 Burnley 0
Midfielder Ashley Barnes’ recklessness cost Burnley the chance of salvaging a point at Everton as the struggling Clarets dropped to the bottom of the Premier League.
Barnes may have controversially avoided punishment for a wild tackle on Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic back in February but there was no escape as two ill-advised challenges - one which did not even connect with an opponent - saw him sent off in first-half added time at Goodison Park.
Burnley were already trailing to Kevin Mirallas’s goal and with 10 men they could not claw back that deficit, losing 1-0.
Manager Sean Dyche previously defended the 24-year-old after Jose Mourinho described the studs-up lunge at Matic as “criminal” but the way the player threw himself about the Goodison Park pitch in the opening 45 minutes was not indicative of someone displaying good judgement or the necessary control.
Stoke City 2 Southampton 1
Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam damaged Southampton’s challenge for a European place as his late strike secured a 2-1 win at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
Ronald Koeman’s side had hoped to climb above Liverpool into fifth place in the Premier League and also put pressure on Manchester City as the race heats up for places in the Champions League and Europa League.
They made the perfect start when French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin opened the scoring midway through the first-half.
But Mame Diouf levelled soon after the interval and Scotland midfielder Adam struck with six minutes left to hand Southampton their second defeat in their last three matches.
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