Football
ESPN staff and PA Sport 9y

Man United stumble to third straight defeat; Steven Gerrard lifts Liverpool

Manchester United lost 1-0 at home to West Brom on Saturday to give rivals Liverpool hope for a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Chris Brunt's 64th-minute free kick took a huge deflection off Jonas Olsson in the wall and beat David De Gea for the game's only goal.

Robin van Persie saw his penalty saved 10 minutes later and West Brom keeper Boaz Myhill stopped the Dutchman again with a diving save in the 90th minute.

The loss was United's third straight in the league and leaves them four points ahead of Liverpool for the final Champions League position with three games to play. West Brom moved to the brink of safety from relegation on 40 points.

Steven Gerrard saw a late penalty saved before scoring the winning goal as Liverpool beat 10-man Queens Park Rangers 2-1 to give his club their first victory since mid-April.

Liverpool had taken just one point from their previous three matches and a banner was flown above Anfield before the start of the game calling for manager Brendan Rodgers to be removed as manager.

Liverpool then took the lead on 19 minutes when Rickie Lambert set up Philippe Coutinho to curl home the opening goal, but they were pegged back on 73 minutes when Leroy Fer volleyed home a corner.

The Reds were given the chance to restore their advantage soon afterwards when Nedum Onouha fouled Martin Skrtel, but Gerrard saw his spot kick saved by Rob Green.

However, after Onouha had picked up a second booking for a tackle on Jordon Ibe on 82 minutes, Gerrard made amends for his miss by heading home Coutinho's corner.

Aston Villa eased their relegation fears with a 3-2 victory over Everton at Villa Park.

Everton went into the game having won five of their six games in the Premier League, but they were down after 10 minutes when Christian Benteke headed home, and the Belgian striker fired home a second just before the break.

Everton were given hope when Romelu Lukaku casually converted a penalty after Steven Naismith had been fouled in the area, but Tom Cleverley restored their two-goal cushion shortly afterwards.

Phil Jagielka reduced the arrears in the dying moments, but Villa held on for a victory that sees them move 14th, ahead of Newcastle on goal difference.

That was after Leicester City eased to a 3-0 victory over nine-man Newcastle as they boosted their survival hopes.

Leicester, looking to bounce back from their defeat to Chelsea in midweek, were ahead inside the opening minute as Leonardo Ulloa rose to head home a Marc Albrighton corner.

Newcastle, who went into the game on the back of seven straight defeats, found themselves two goals down on 16 minutes as Ulloa flicked the ball on for Wes Morgan to divert home.

Newcastle showed signs of improvement before the break, but they were 3-0 down in the 48th minute as Ulloa converted a contentious penalty after Emmanuel Riviere was deemed to have pushed Marcin Wasilewski.

There were no further goals, but Newcastle saw both Mike Williamson and Daryl Janmaat sent off as they found themselves drawn closer towards the relegation zone.

Jordi Gomez struck twice from the penalty spot as Sunderland rekindled their survival hopes with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Southampton.

The Spaniard struck after 21 minutes and then again 10 minutes into the second half after first Jose Fonte and then James Ward-Prowse, who was sent off for his pains, fell foul of referee Mike Jones with striker Danny Graham the man causing the problems on both occasions.

In the meantime, Sadio Mane had drawn the visitors level when he capitalised on keeper Costel Pantilimon's error, but the Saints were far from at their best as they slipped to a defeat in front of a crowd of 39,613 at the Stadium of Light.

Burnley face an uphill battle to preserve their Premier League status after their 10 men slipped to a 1-0 defeat at West Ham.

Sean Dyche's side remain bottom of the table and now sit eight points from safety with just three fixtures remaining after losing at Upton Park as Mark Noble converted a first-half penalty following Michael Duff's sending off.

Swansea stole a march on Stoke in the battle for eighth place with a 2-0 victory at the Liberty Stadium.

Ecuador winger Jefferson Montero's first goal in English football broke the deadlock after 76 minutes before substitute Ki Sung-yueng settled matters in stoppage time with a firm sidefoot finish.

The win extends Swansea's advantage over ninth place to six points with three games of the season remaining and the Welsh club look on course for their highest-ever Premier League finish.

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