London: Relegation-threatened Everton earned a priceless win against misfiring Manchester United on Saturday as Chelsea hammered Southampton 6-0 on a potentially decisive day in the race for the Premier League top four.
Arsenal slipped to their third defeat in four matches, losing 2-1 against Brighton, while Leeds pulled further away from the drop zone with an emphatic 3-0 win against struggling Watford.
Frank Lampard has struggled to inspire Everton since taking over from the sacked Rafael Benitez in late January, winning just two of his nine league games before United’s visit.
A 3-2 defeat in midweek against Burnley left the club just one point above their relegation rivals and desperately short of confidence.
But goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made two fine saves to deny Marcus Rashford in the early stages in the spring sunshine at Goodison Park.
The decisive moment in the 1-0 win came midway through the first half when young forward Anthony Gordon hit a shot that took a huge deflection off England defender Harry Maguire and wrong-footed David de Gea in the United goal.
The visitors — with top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo back in the team — huffed and puffed but looked toothless in attack and slipped to an eighth league defeat of the season.
Lampard said he was proud of his battling side, who are trying to maintain Everton’s proud record of being ever-present in the English top flight since 1954.
“Beautiful football can come later on,” he said. “I have ambitions for this club to stay up, play well, but in the position we are in, fighting comes first and foremost.”
– Rampant Chelsea –
Third-placed Chelsea suffered a shock 4-1 defeat at the hands of Brentford last week before losing 3-1 against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
But they restored confidence on Saturday by putting Southampton to the sword, racing into a 6-0 lead in the 54th minute, with two goals apiece for Mason Mount and Timo Werner.
“The performance changed, the commitment and the discipline,” Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said.
“This is how we want to play and we gave an answer finally because you could see it on the scoreboard. — AFP