Manchester City had a lucky late escape at Leicester but remain in deep trouble at the bottom of the Barclaycard Premiership after a 1-1 draw at the Walkers Stadium. England goalkeeper David James saved a late Paul Dickov spot-kick which was hotly disputed as tempers frayed on either side of the touchline.

Michael Tarnat put the visitors ahead with a spectacular goal, driving in a shot from 35 yards on the stroke of half-time with the help of a deflection but some hesitant defending allowed James Scowcroft to head home an equaliser in the 66th minute. The Foxes stay second from bottom and Kevin Keegan's side are only three points above the relegation zone.

Fellow strugglers Blackburn moved up to 13th with a crucial 1-0 win at Everton. Jon Stead scored the only goal as he met Andy Cole's cross with a glancing header.

At the top, Liverpool got back on course to finish fourth and claim a Champions League place with a 1-0 win over bitter rivals Manchester United. Danny Murphy scored the only goal with a 63rd-minute penalty after Gary Neville mistimed a tackle on Steven Gerrard. The defeat was a setback for United, who were bidding to go second.

Aston Villa are up to fifth at least until Newcastle's match after coming from a goal down to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 despite playing most of the second half with 10 men. Joseph-Desire Job rifled in a spectacular shot after 40 minutes from Gaizka Mendieta's pass but Villa levelled when Gareth Barry headed home Thomas Hitzlsperger's cross.

The visitors had Nolberto Solano sent off in the second half after he swung an arm at George Boateng but the numerical disadvantage did not hamper them and substitute Peter Crouch grabbed an 89th-minute winner.

Fulham's outside hopes of a place in Europe for next season were boosted as they beat Charlton 2-0 at Loftus Road. The first goal came from the penalty spot in the 18th minute when Steed Malbranque converted following a foul on Luis Boa Morte by Addicks goalkeeper Dean Kiely.

The second was a beauty as Boa Morte found Sean Davis, who scored with a sweetly-struck volley in the 64th minute.

Bolton came from behind to see off Southampton 2-1 in a mid-table clash at St Mary's as Kevin Davies came back to haunt the Saints. Marian Pahars opened the scoring for the home side with a right-foot shot after 20 minutes but Kevin Nolan equalised with 13 minutes to go as he beat the offside trap to head past Antti Niemi.

Within a minute Wanderers were in front as Jay-Jay Okocha whipped in a glorious cross and Davies leapt above Paul Telfer to head home.

Goals from Yakubu and Lomana LuaLua pushed Leeds closer to the relegation trapdoor as Portsmouth claimed a crucial 2-1 Premiership win at Elland Road on Sunday. The Whites started brightly but were hit with a sucker punch after just nine minutes when a fine move started inside his own half by Amdy Faye was finished in fine style by the in-form Yakubu, the Nigerian heading home from eight yards after Steve Stone's fine cross had picked him out.

The home side found themselves two goals down just after the interval when LuaLua headed in from under the crossbar after the hosts' backline had failed to deal with a routine corner. Leeds were granted a fortunate lifeline with seven minutes left when the impressive Linvoy Primus was adjudged to have tugged Michael Duberry's shirt in the area.

Ian Harte held his nerve to slot the penalty past Shaka Hislop and that set the scene for a frantic finale. Leeds are three points behind fourth-bottom Manchester City with just three games left to play.

Newcastle moved level with Liverpool in the crucial fourth Champions League spot by coming from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 on Tyneside.Joe Cole got a rare start for the Blues and put the visitors ahead within five minutes, getting behind the Toon defence to slot coolly past Shay Given.

But Sir Bobby Robson's side were level just a minute before the interval as Shola Ameobi fired home from the edge of the box. And three minutes into the second half Newcastle clinched victory with a stunning strike from that man Alan Shearer.

Wolves are closer to having relegation confirmed despite grinding out a creditable 2-2 draw at Birmingham. Dave Jones knew his side needed all three points to keep alive any real hopes of survival. But despite taking a sixth-minute lead through Colin Cameron they couldn't hang on for victory.

Mikael Forssell (34) and Clinton Morrison (41) both netted before the break to give Blues a 2-1 half-time advantage. And it took a Carl Cort goal 15 minutes from time to snatch a point for Wolves. They're six points behind Manchester City, again with just three games remaining.