Liverpool maintain top-four push; Spurs withstand Swansea's surge
Stand-in captain Jordan Henderson led from the front with his second goal in successive matches as Liverpool maintained their pursuit of a top-four place defeating Burnley 2-0 on Wednesday night.
With third-placed Arsenal and Manchester United also winning, Brendan Rodgers' side could not afford anything less than three points and a straightforward 2-0 victory over the Premier League strugglers was the achieved with the minimum of fuss. Henderson, in possession of the armband in the absence of Steven Gerrard, back in training this week after a hamstring injury, slotted home just before the half-hour and Daniel Sturridge's header just after the break sealed the result.
With Henderson, and the team, in this form the watching captain -- who departs for Los Angeles Galaxy in the summer -- must be wondering where he fits in. Liverpool, the league's only unbeaten side since the turn of the year, have not been defeated in the last 12 league games - picking up 30 points from a possible 36 having won seven of the last eight with six clean sheets.
Rodgers' side are upwardly mobile and moved back into fifth place, which they had been ousted from by Southampton 24 hours earlier, remaining three points behind Arsenal and two behind United, who visit Anfield a week on Sunday. Burnley, on the other hand, have just one win in the last 12 league matches and stay second-bottom three points from safety.
Tottenham got their top-four tilt back on track by overcoming Swansea 3-2 on a night when Bafetimbi Gomis' collapse had those inside White Hart Lane fearing the worst.
As play was about to restart following Nacer Chadli's wonderful, early opener, paramedics and medical staff raced onto the field to tend to the French striker after he went down. Hush fell on the ground where Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest three years ago, but good news emanated from the Swansea dressing room that Gomis was fine and had not been hospitalised after fainting.
Garry Monk's side will have unlikely been aware of the positive news when Ki Sung-Yueng drew parity in a match which Spurs would go onto win, with second-half strikes from Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend securing the result after Gylfi Sigurdsson's late strike. Having exited the Europa League and lost the Capital One Cup to Chelsea in the past week, this felt like a huge win for Mauricio Pochettino's side,
Defeat to Swansea would have seriously harmed their hopes of Champions League qualification, so Chadli's fine, cushioned volley got Spurs off to the best possible start.
Everton endured further Barclays Premier League misery as goals from Victor Moses and Mame Biram Diouf condemned them to a 2-0 defeat at Stoke.
Moses headed home superbly in the 32nd minute before Diouf slotted in on the rebound six minutes from time after fellow substitute Marko Arnautovic hit the post to steer the Potters to a third straight win. The Toffees, meanwhile, are now without a victory in five league games and they have won only once in their last 12.
