Man United beat Palace, Burnley relegated

Manchester United ended a run of three consecutive defeats and put themselves on the brink of Champions League qualification with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday Night Football.

Marouane Fellaini capitalised on a mistake from Julian Speroni to score the winner after Jason Puncheon had cancelled out Juan Mata’s first-half penalty with a well-executed free-kick.

The victory moved United side seven points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool in the Premier League table, meaning that if Brendan Rodgers’ side lose to Chelsea on Sunday, Louis van Gaal’s side will be guaranteed a place in the top four.

Palace went into the game knowing they were mathematically safe thanks to results elsewhere earlier in the day but fell to a fourth defeat in a row despite a spirited second-half fightback.

Danny Ings ended his goal drought as Burnley won 1-0 at Hull City, but results elsewhere meant the Clarets' stay in the Premier League came to an end after just one season.

Ings scored the only goal of the game just after hour when he forced the ball home following a corner.

The result leaves Hull deep in relegation trouble, two points adrift of Newcastle with a trip to Spurs and a home game against Manchester United remaining. But while Burnley climbed off the foot of the table and above QPR, they are now sure to be playing Championship football next season.

Newcastle United finally brought to an end their run of eight consecutive defeats, drawing 1-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion.

West Brom took the lead when Victor Anichebe planted a header past Tim Krul from Craig Gardner's cross. It was a goal which put the Magpies in the relegation zone, but they were there for only nine minutes.

The equaliser came in the 41st minute, Ayoze Perez converting after a ball was played into the area by Ryan Taylor. And Burnley's winner at the KC Stadium then gave Newcastle extra breathing space from the bottom three.

Leicester City strolled to a sixth win in seven Premier League games, beating Southampton 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes stormed into a two-goal lead inside 19 minutes and Ronald Koeman's side, who have tailed off in the last three months, could not find a way back into the game. The victory moved Nigel Pearson's men three points clear of the relegation zone.

Aston Villa's resurgence under Tim Sherwood continued with a 1-0 win at home to West Ham United which moved them up to 14th, four points clear of danger.

Villa scored what proved to be the winner in the 31st minute when Tom Cleverley continued his recent run of good form, firing home following a pass from young Villan Jack Grealish.

Danny Graham's first goal for Sunderland may have been a fluke but its significance could not be under-estimated as they took a huge step towards Premier League survival with a surprise 2-0 win at Everton.

Even the kindest critic would describe the 29-year-old's career at the Stadium of Light as a flop, having spent spells on loan at Hull, Middlesbrough and Wolves since his £5 million move from Swansea in January 2013.

However, after 28 months and 28 matches he finally found the net to make the crucial breakthrough at Goodison Park. He knew little about the goal as Jordi Gomez's shot deflected off him and took a freakish bounce over Tim Howard in the 53rd minute.

Jermain Defoe's close-range strike five minutes from time was not much cleaner, coming off his thigh, but a first away win in eight matches -- since beating Newcastle on Dec. 21 -- has seen them take 10 points from the last five matches.

It means Sunderland have a two-point cushion over Hull, and have a game in hand.

Stoke City cruised to a 3-0 win at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Charlie Adam put the home side in front in the 21st minute, with Steven Nzonzi doubling the advantage just after the half hour.

Any hopes Spurs had of getting back into the game were over six minutes after half-time when Vlad Chirches was sent off after being shown a second yellow card, and Mame Biram Diouf put the icing on the cake.