Swansea City moved to within sight of Premier League survival on Saturday with a comfortable 2-0 victory against a lacklustre Sunderland side already doomed to relegation.
With third-from-bottom Hull City in action 24 hours later 17th-placed Swansea moved four points clear of their rivals with goals by Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton.
Spaniard Llorente headed Swansea in front after nine minutes from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s inch-perfect delivery.
Full back Naughton then hammered a stunning angled drive past Jordan Pickford on the stroke of half-time.
Bottom club Sunderland’s resistance was feeble throughout and they proved accommodating hosts as Paul Clement’s Swansea picked up a third win in their last four matches.
Swansea will be safe if Hull lose to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Elsewhere on Saturday afternoon, Southampton snapped a five-game winless streak after goals from Jay Rodriguez and substitute Nathan Redmond gave them a 2-1 win at relegated Middlesbrough.
Patrick Bamford scored a consolation goal for Boro, who had already lost any hope of avoiding the drop, after Shane Long missed a penalty for Southampton in an eventful second half.
Rodriguez fired the visitors ahead in the 42nd minute when he swept home a delightful Long cross from 12 metres and Redmond made it 2-0 in the 57th, curling a fine shot into the top left corner after rounding Boro defender Fabio.
Long shaved the bar with his spot-kick after he was hauled down by Boro keeper Brad Guzan before the hosts finally gave their suffering fans something to cheer as Bamford pulled one back with a thumping header from a corner.
Bournemouth meanwhile climbed into the top half of the table after Joshua King’s late goal sealed a 2-1 victory against Burnley.
On the sun-kissed south coast, Bournemouth opened the scoring when former Burnley winger Junior Stanislas brilliantly controlled a long ball with his chest before sliding a cute finish into the corner in the 25th minute.
Burnley, who have claimed just seven points away from home all season, equalised against the run of play through Sam Vokes’ 83rd-minute header but, with a draw beckoning, King netted his 16th league goal of the season two minutes later to seal a deserved win.
Bournemouth – whose previous highest top-flight finish was 16th a year ago – sit 10th with 45 points from 37 games. Burnley, meanwhile, are five points behind them in 14th.
