Morgan Gibbs-White inspired Nottingham Forest to a vital 3-1 victory over Fulham which eased their Premier League relegation concerns.
Gibbs-White put in a virtuoso display in a golden first half which saw Forest cruise into a 3-0 lead.
After setting up Callum Hudson-Odoi's opener, he watched as Chris Wood made it 2-0 before completing the scoring with a fine finish on the stroke of half-time.
That sublime opening 45 minutes laid the foundations for just a second league win of 2024 for Forest and the first since they were deducted four points for breaking the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules last month.
That opened up a three-point gap over Luton, who occupy 18th position and visit title-chasing Arsenal on Wednesday night.
Forest had to endure a nervy time as Tosin Adarabioyo's header gave Fulham a lifeline and the visitors spent most of the second half knocking on the door.
The Cottagers needed a late comeback to earn a point at bottom-placed Sheffield United on Saturday but they could not repeat the feat here as they paid the price for a shambolic opening half-hour.
Tottenham's pursuit of a Champions League place was dented after a 1-1 draw with West Ham at the London Stadium.
Ange Postecoglou's Spurs looked up for the battle from the start and went in front after five minutes through Brennan Johnson, who scored from close range when he connected with a low cross from Timo Werner following a slick counter-attack down the left.
West Ham were soon level with the ball going in off Kurt Zouma's back a from a Jarrod Bowen corner in the 19th as the central defender rose amongst a crowd of players inside the six-yard box with the Spurs defence failing to snuff out the danger.
The hosts had a great chance to take the lead on the hour when Michail Antonio raced through having shrugged off Micky van de Ven but he shot tamely at goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs are now two points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, who head to champions Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin came off the bench to deny Newcastle victory but could not spare Everton an unwanted record of 13 Premier League games without victory.
The England international converted an 87th-minute penalty - his first goal since October - to cancel out Alexander Isak's first-half opener and secure a 1-1 draw at St James' Park as the Magpies were made to pay for missed chances.
Dan Burn had seen a second-half strike ruled out for offside after a VAR review and both sides were denied by the woodwork and ultimately neither got what they really needed.
Crystal Palace remain in the relegation picture after sliding to a 1-0 defeat at rain-swept Bournemouth.
The game was played in torrential rain and swirling winds, which made it difficult for either side to get the ball down and play.
A scrappy game was decided in the 80th minute by Justin Kluivert who finished well after good work by fellow substitute Antoine Semenyo.
After a fourth league game without a win, Palace are in 14th place with 30 points, eight ahead of 18th-placed Luton Town.
While Palace should stay out of trouble, 11th-placed Bournemouth can already start planning for another top-flight campaign after moving to 41 points.
Rayan Ait-Nouri's third goal in four games earned Wolves a 1-1 draw at relegation-battling Burnley.
The Clarets went ahead in the 37th minute through Bruun Larsen, who met a deep cross on the right from Republic of Ireland international Dara O'Shea with a stunning volley with his instep that flew past the helpless Jose Sa in the Wolves goal.
However, Wolves levelled in first-half stoppage time as Rayan Ait-Nouri was left completely unmarked in the box to send a powerful downward header from Pablo Sarabia's free kick bouncing into the net.
The Clarets extended their unbeaten run to four games but Nottingham Forest's 3-1 win over Fulham saw the gap to safety grow to six points with seven games left while Wolves remain in touch with the battle for European places.
Watch France v Republic of Ireland in Euro 2025 qualifying on Friday from 7.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on 2fm's Game On
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
