Premier League round-up: Arsenalstrengthened their grip on third place in the Premier League with a comfortable 3-0 win over Aston Villaat Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners made it seven straight league wins to make the most of Tottenham’s goalless draw at Chelsea with first half goals from Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott.
Villa rarely threatened with Mikel Arteta cracking in a fine free-kick in stoppage time as Arsenal coasted to victory, putting them three points ahead of Spurs, with fifth-placed Chelsea now eight behind in the race for guaranteed Champions League football next season.
Djibril Cisse was sent off for the second time in his brief QPRcareer as his side self-destructed against Sunderland, losing 3-1 at the Stadium of Light in a match that saw republic of Ireland defender go off with an injury before half-time.
The visitors were trailing to Nicklas Bendtner’s 41st-minute header when the Frenchman launched himself into a two-footed tackle on Fraizer Campbell and was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Jones.
He will receive a four-match ban to add to the three he served following his dismissal against Wolves after what proved to be a costly fifth appearance for the club.
Cisse, who had a loan spell at the Stadium of Light earlier in his career, was not the only old boy to suffer on his return to Wearside with Nedum Onuoha’s error allowing the outstanding James McClean to celebrate his new contract by adding a second 20 minutes from time.
Stephane Sessegnon made sure of the points six minutes later, and although defender Taye Taiwo pulled a goal back with a stunning late free-kick, the home side ran out comfortable winners in front of a crowd of 37,128.
Martin O’Neill’s joy will have been tempered, however, by the sight of O’Shea limping off before the break with an injury which could jeopardise his chances of playing in Tuesday night’s FA Cup quarter-final replay against Everton.
Boltonpaid tribute to Fabrice Muamba in the best way possible by claiming a 2-1 victory over Blackburnthat lifted them out of the bottom three.
Two first-half headers from centre half David Wheater, the first brace of his career, were enough to repel Blackburn’s rally after Steven Nzonzi had pulled one back after half-time.
Securing back-to-back wins for the first time this season was a fitting conclusion to an emotional week at the Reebok Stadium, following the cardiac arrest suffered by Muamba in an FA Cup tie at Tottenham seven days ago.
That results elsewhere also went Bolton’s way added extra gloss on a day that the home fans started and finished by singing Muamba’s name.
Any fears Coyle had about the reaction of his players to the emotions of the day would have been dismissed by the positivity in the ground before kick-off.
From the moment a montage of the past week was played on the stadium’s big screen through to the pre-match handshakes, loud applause and chants rang out in honour of Muamba, who remains in intensive care but whose situation is so much better than it might have been.
Second-half goals from Leighton Baines and Nikica Jelavic saw Evertonleapfrog Swanseain the table after a 2-0 success and become just the third away side to win at the Liberty Stadium this season.
Baines’s dusted himself down after being fouled by Ashley Williams to curl a lovely free-kick beyond Michel Vorm just before the hour, and Jelavic sealed the win by tapping in his second goal for the Toffees with 14 minutes remaining.
Swansea had dominated possession during the opening half but could not make it pay as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Danny Graham failed to convert their best chances.
Wolvesslipped further into the relegation mire today as captain Grant Holt netted twice before being sent off as Norwichcame from behind to win 2-1 at Carrow Road.
The Black Country side languish bottom of the Premier League as the season edges towards a close, having lost four games on the bounce.
Terry Connor’s embattled side have now won just once in 16 league matches following today’s tough match, which had began well for the visitors when they took the lead through a neatly-worked Matt Jarvis goal.
