Ollie Watkins celebrated his 250th appearance for Aston Villa with a goal in a 3-1 win against a wretched Nottingham Forest who are slipping into deep relegation trouble.
Watkins continued his impressive form with his fourth strike in three over the festive period to spearhead an 11th straight home win for Villa.
John McGinn then struck twice after the break, including one from 35 yards, as Unai Emery's men recorded their best streak at Villa Park since 1990.
It got them back to winning ways after their midweek humbling at Arsenal, moving into second ahead of the rest of the weekend's Premier League action, but more importantly opened up a 12-point gap over fifth-placed Chelsea as they tightened their grip on Champions League qualification.
Forest briefly got back into the game through Morgan Gibbs-White's goal but they were poor in slipping to a fourth successive defeat - their worst run in the Premier League since late 2023 amid a run of form which saw Steve Cooper sacked.
It might be too soon for Sean Dyche to be linked with suffering a similar fate, but the clouds are gathering and Tuesday's visit to fellow strugglers West Ham, managed by former boss Nuno Espirito Santo, now takes on extra significance.
The Hammers' relegation fears deepened as they crashed to a humiliating 3-0 defeat at previously winless Wolves.
The result was all but cemented in the first half as an early goal from Jhon Arias was followed by a Hwang Hee-chan penalty and superb Mateus Mane strike.
It made for a miserable return to Molineux for former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who is struggling to revive the fortunes of the Hammers and now under considerable pressure.
The London side remain four points adrift of safety in 18th place the Premier League after a run of nine games without a win.
Given that the tenures of his predecessors Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter proved shortlived, the Portuguese – already sacked by Nottingham Forest this season – may not survive much longer.
For once bottom side Wolves were not the ones doing the soul searching as they claimed a much-deserved first victory of the season.
Brighton soared to eighth place in the Premier League by snapping a six-match winless run with a comfortable 2-0 success over second-bottom Burnley.
Georginio Rutter gave the Seagulls a first-half lead on a bitterly-cold afternoon at the Amex Stadium before Yasin Ayari doubled the advantage early in the second period.
Substitute Loum Tchaouna came close to halving the deficit but Scott Parker's struggling Clarets remain six points from Nottingham Forest in 17th after their wait for a top-flight victory stretched to 11 games.
