Sunderland climbed to within a point of safety by beating relegation rivals Norwich 3-0 at Carrow Road.
At the end of an even first half, Fabio Borini buried a penalty following Andre Wisdom’s rash challenge in the box. The Italian put in an excellent cross for Jermain Defoe to turn in a second after the break before Duncan Watmore scored a third in injury time.
Nathan Redmond hit a post and Norwich had penalty appeals turned down – but the comeback never gathered real pace. Instead Sunderland could easily have increased their winning margin before Watmore darted onto fellow substitute Sebastien Larsson’s pass and finally made the hosts pay for the space left behind as they committed numbers forward.
Next for Sunderland is a massive challenge against Arsenal at home next Sunday night, while Norwich don’t play till Sunday May 1 with a trip to the Gunners awaiting them.
Aston Villa have been relegated to English football’s second tier for the first time since 1987 after defeat at Manchester United.
Marcus Rashford scored the only goal, sweeping Antonio Valencia’s cut-back past goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Villa were second best for much of the game, although Rudy Gestede’s volley did hit a post late on. It was a ninth straight loss for the visitors and left them 15 points from safety with only four matches left.
Villa will next host Southampton next Saturday night while United will host Crystal Palace in midweek on Thursday morning.
Watch every goal from the EPL action overnight here
A Sergio Aguero hat-trick moved Manchester City closer to securing Champions League football next season with victory at 10-man Chelsea.
City profited from slick break-aways, the first goal arriving when Kevin De Bruyne fed Aguero, who fired in. Again De Bruyne led a clinical counter after the break, finding Samir Nasri, who put Aguero clear to finish smartly.
Thibaut Courtois was sent off for fouling Fernandinho, allowing Aguero to whip home his third from the spot. Next for City is a trip to Wearside to face Newcastle on Wednesday morning, meanwhile Chelsea travel to inform Bournemouth next Saturday night.
Full Results
Norwich City 0 Sunderland 3 (Borini 41’, Defoe 53’, Watmore 91’)
Manchester United (Rashford 32’) Aston Villa 0
Everton (Mori 68’) 1 Southampton 1 (Mane 76’)
Newcastle United (Lascelles 40’, Sissoko 82’, Townsend 89’) 3 Swansea City 0
West Bromwich Albion 0 Watford 1 (Watson 27’)
Chelsea 0 Manchester City (Aguero 33’, 54’ & 80’) 3
Tonight/Tomorrow Morning
Bournemouth vs Liverpool – 10:30pm AEST
Leicester City vs West Ham United – 10:30pm AEST
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace – 1:00am AEST
