Leicester
City's English Premier League title dream moved closer to reality
after a Wednesday wipe-out brought defeats for their nearest
challengers Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City.
Tottenham
were primed to take advantage of Leicester's 2-2 home draw with West
Bromwich Albion on Tuesday and would have gone top on goal difference
with victory at West Ham but they went down 1-0 to end a six-match
winning run.
Michail
Antonio's early headed goal proved decisive at Upton Park and if
Leicester fans thought that was good their night got even better as
third-placed Arsenal slumped 2-1 at home to Swansea City and
fourth-placed City were thrashed 3-0 at Liverpool, three days after
beating them in the League Cup final.
With
10 matches remaining, Leicester have 57 points, Tottenham 54, Arsenal
51 and City, who have a game in hand, 47, ahead of Manchester United
only on goal difference after Juan Mata's late strike earned them a
1-0 win over Watford.
West
Ham, on 46 points, are also in the mix for Champions League
qualification after putting the brakes on Tottenham's title charge in
a typically tense derby in east London.
Antonio
struck the game's only goal in the seventh minute, heading in Dimitri
Payet's corner, and West Ham could have been further ahead before
Tottenham improved in the second half.
Harry
Kane wasted Tottenham's best chance, scuffing a close-range rebound
after West Ham keeper Adrian saved a low 25-metre drive from Toby
Alderweireld.
"We
need to be positive and it is important to be ready for Saturday,"
Tottenham manager Maurico Pochettino, whose side host Arsenal on
Saturday, told the BBC.
"When
you lose you can blame it on the players being tired or whatever, the
reality is that it was just a bad night."
Arsenal
were hoping to bounce back from Sunday's defeat at Manchester United
and Joel Campbell firing them ahead but goals from Wayne Routledge
and Ashley Williams gave Swansea three vital points in their bid to
move away from trouble.
Manager
Arsene Wenger said his side were unlucky but Arsenal's fans made
their feelings clear, booing the side off after a dismal second-half
display.
"They
had two shots on target and scored two goals," said Wenger, who
added that keeper Petr Cech had picked up an injury that will rule
him out against Tottenham.
"We
need to bounce back very quickly now."
Manchester
City's third consecutive league defeat left them looking over their
shoulders.
Adam
Lallana, who missed one of Liverpool's penalties in Sunday's Wembley
shootout, and James Milner scored before halftime and Roberto Firmino
sealed the points after the break.
With
City's league form disintegrating, Louis van Gaal's United side are
now back in the frame for a top-four spot, even if they were poor
against Watford before Mata's winner.
The
Spaniard's sublime 83rd-minute free kick was harsh on Watford who
wasted a flurry of chances at Old Trafford.
At
the other end of the table, Newcastle United's plight worsened as a
1-0 defeat at Stoke City left them second from bottom with 24 points,
the same total as Norwich City and Sunderland who are directly above
them.
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