Both Liverpool and Blackburn were the victors as they came away with wins over Sunderland and Burnley respectively.
A scintillating first-half performance set the tone for an easy 3-0 Liverpool victory over Sunderland at Anfield which kept the Reds in the race for Champions League qualification.
Fernando Torres struck a brilliant opener in the third minute and Glen Johnson's deflected strike made it 2-0 after a first half in which the hosts could easily have scored six.
Torres scored his seventh goal in four matches, and his 18th in 21 Premier League appearances this season, midway through the second half as Liverpool coasted in the latter stages.
Victory takes the Reds back above Manchester City and into fifth place, four points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.
Liverpool vs Sunderland Player Ratings
A controversial David Dunn penalty earned Blackburn a 1-0 win at Lancashire rivals Burnley, effectively ending any lingering relegation fears for Rovers while leaving their opponents deeper in the mire.
Blackburn are now through the 40-point barrier and into the top half of the table while Burnley, on 27, stay in 19th spot and three points adrift of safety.
But Burnley will rightly feel aggrieved at Mike Dean's decision to award the decisive spot-kick as Martin Olsson appeared to dive over Brian Jensen with little or no contact.
Burnley huffed and puffed in the second half in search of an equaliser, but Blackburn came closest to adding to the goals column as his shot cannoned off the underside of the bar and just failed to cross the line.
On Saturday, Manchester United and Chelsea recorded big wins while Arsenal dropped two points at St. Andrews against Birmingham.
Manchester United romped to a 4-0 win despite both Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand being absent. It was a fitting riposte to Chelsea stunning 7-1 mauling of Aston Villa earlier in the day.
Bolton made a fist of things for the first half hour and could even have taken the lead had it not been for excellent reflexes from Edwin van der Sar.
United finally went ahead courtesy of an incredible own goal by Jlloyd Samuel. The defender sidefooted the ball into his own net when he had plenty of time to clear it. It was 1-0 at the break.
United emerged from the tunnel in the second half a side on a mission. They started going through the gears and a through ball from Ryan Giggs found Fletcher in space. The midfielder's shot was parried straight into the path of Dimitar Berbatov who eased the ball past Jussi Jaaskelainen.
It turned into the Nani show after that. The Portuguese, playing high on the left side of midfield tormented Samuel Ricketts twice before squaring the ball to Dimitar Berbatov and Darron Gibson. Neither made any error from close range and the Devils ultimately ran out comfortable 4-0 winners.
At Stamford Bridge, Carlo Ancelotti raised eyebrows by leaving Didier Drogba on the bench but the result was the biggest win of his side's season and one which took them back to the Barclays Premier League summit.
And Chelsea's cause was further boosted when Arsene Wenger's men blew three hard-earned points against Birmingham, with Kevin Phillips cancelling out Samir Nasri's opener at the death.
Lampard opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 15th minute but nerves were evident in the way the home side allowed Villa to hit back and level when John Carew converted Ashley Young's cross in the 29th minute.
Lampard's penalty nudged his side back in front just before the break then Chelsea ran riot with a brace for Florent Malouda, one for Salomon Kalou and two more for Lampard, who notched his fifth career hat-trick in the process.
It was a different story for Arsenal who had to battle through every minute of their clash with Alex McLeish's men but looked to have clinched it when substitute Nasri rocketed home a right-foot shot nine minutes from time.
Home keeper Joe Hart had been in good form to deny Theo Walcott in the first half but Birmingham also had their chances and Scott Dann missed a simple rebound after Roger Johnson's flick-on had hit the crossbar.
Wenger's introduction of Nasri and Andrei Arshavin in the 69th minute breathed new life into the Gunners and looked to have paid off handsomely with Nasri and Cesc Fabregas coming close to adding a second.
But the visitors' title push suffered a major blow in the first minute of added time when an attempted clearance in the box struck Phillips and the ball proceeded to loop back over Manuel Almunia into the net.
Tottenham took a firmer grip on the final Champions League place with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth at White Hart Lane with Pompey old boys Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar grabbing the goals.
Crouch headed home a Gareth Bale cross in the 27th minute and Spurs dominated with Michael Dawson crashing a long-range shot wide and Crouch and Tom Huddlestone both hitting the woodwork.
Kranjcar converted a Kyle Walker cross after 40 minutes and things got worse for doomed Pompey in the second half with both Hermann Hreidarsson and Danny Webber stretchered off.
Gianfranco Zola's West Ham sunk deeper into the relegation mire after a dismal 1-0 home defeat to Stoke and their cause was not helped by fellow strugglers Hull's 2-0 win over Fulham.
Zola's difficult week ended on a new low note with Ricardo Fuller grabbing the only goal of the game at Upton Park, beating three Hammers defenders before firing the winner in the 69th minute.
Iain Dowie's men are now behind the Hammers on goal difference only after cruising to victory over Fulham with a 16th-minute penalty from Jimmy Bullard and Craig Fagan's 48th-minute header.
Wolves edged closer to safety after hanging on for a goalless draw at home to Everton, for whom Leighton Baines and Leon Osman came close while Ronald Zubar shot just over the crossbar for Mick McCarthy's men.
Match Reports
Sunday
Liverpool 3-0 Sunderland
Torres: We have confidence now!
Burnley 0-1 Blackburn Rovers
Laws slams diver Olsson
Saturday
Bolton 0-4 Manchester United
Chelsea 7-1 Aston Villa
Birmingham 1-1 Arsenal
Tottenham 2-0 Portsmouth
Wolves 0-0 Everton
West Ham 0-1 Stoke
Hull 2-0 Fulham
