Bournemouth 2 West Bromwich Albion 1
West Brom’s slim hopes of Premier League survival suffered another setback as they surrendered the lead to lose 2-1 at Bournemouth.
Jay Rodriguez looked set to ease the pressure on under-fire Albion boss Alan Pardew after he opened the scoring early in the second half.
But late goals from Jordon Ibe and Junior Stanislas turned the game around to inflict a seventh successive league loss on the bottom-of-the-table Baggies which leaves them 10 points from safety.
The visitors went into this fixture with just three victories from 30 league games, one of which came against the Cherries on the opening day.
Pardew, who held clear-the-air talks with the club’s owners during the week, responded to last week’s humiliating 4-1 home loss to Leicester by making three changes.
Goal-scorer Rodriguez was one of the men brought in, alongside captain Jonny Evans and midfielder Claudio Yacob, with Grzegorz Krychowiak, who was fined for his angry reaction to being substituted against the Foxes, dropped to the bench along with forwards Matt Phillips and Oliver Burke.
The alterations initially appeared to have the desired effect as Albion edged an opening period devoid of quality, which was punctuated by poor passing from both sides.
Bournemouth forward Josh King wanted a penalty after going down under a challenge from Ahmed Hegazi, while Salomon Rondon had a stronger case at the other end when he was wiped out by Nathan Ake.
Rondon had earlier gone close with a flicked header was turned away by Asmir Begovic, although chances remained at a premium.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe said ahead of this game that there would be no complacency from his side but they were woefully short of their best.
Cherries midfielder Lewis Cook, who is likely to make his England debut during the international break, had plenty of possession as he tried to inspire the hosts but struggled to provide the spark required to unlock the visitors’ rigid back five.
Venezuela striker Rondon was proving to be a handful for Bournemouth’s backline and he played a key role in the 49th-minute opener, nodding down Kieran Gibbs’ cross for Rodriguez to swivel and convert from close range.
Bournemouth initially offered little in response and seemed to sliding towards a defeat which could have sucked them back into relegation danger.
But they levelled 13 minutes from time in fortuitous fashion.
Ibe, one of two men restored to Howe’s starting line-up following last weekend’s 4-1 defeat to Tottenham, unleashed a speculative effort from range which Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster could only help into the right corner of the net.
A point would have done little to ease the Baggies’ perilous situation and they were left with nothing with two minutes remaining.
After Craig Dawson clattered King around 25 yards from goal, Stanislas stepped up to expertly curl home the resultant free-kick to end Bournemouth’s four-match winless run.
The Baggies carved out an injury-time chance to level but a header from substitute Phillips was hacked off the line by Charlie Daniels as the hosts took a big step towards securing their own top-flight status.
Stoke City 1 Everton 2
Stoke’s relegation fears deepened as Charlie Adam was sent off in a 2-1 victory for Everton where Cenk Tosun scored twice.
Adam’s 30th-minute dismissal for a studs-up lunge on Wayne Rooney proved costly as Tosun netted a brace, the second an 84th-minute winner to end the Toffees’ run of five straight away Premier League defeats.
Stoke substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting had cancelled out Tosun’s opener but the Turkey international took his tally to four goals in three games to decide the contest in Everton’s favour.
Potters boss Paul Lambert had elected to place faith in his more experienced campaigners in selecting the likes of Ryan Shawcross, Glen Johnson, Adam and Peter Crouch.
Adam had an early opportunity to affect the game in a positive manner when he drove over after collecting Phil Jagielka’s clearance 30 yards out.
Players on either side appeared reluctant to take risks in bouts of swirling wind and snow, and the Everton defence looked panicked when any pressure was applied.
They should, though, have gone ahead in the seventh minute when Rooney’s deep corner found an unmarked Tom Davies, with the midfielder heading over from six yards.
A half-hearted penalty appeal when Seamus Coleman’s cross struck Kostas Stafylidis’ arm was the only real moment of note until Adam saw red half-an-hour in.
After a few fair slide tackles had been dished out on the edge of Everton’s area, Adam followed his loose control by lunging in on Rooney with both feet of the ground. The studs on his left boot were showing and though he only caught Rooney’s trailing leg, referee Martin Atkinson immediately produced the red card.
There was little protestation from the midfielder as he made his way down the tunnel and left his side one man down for an hour.
It took some time for the Toffees to make their numeral advantage count but eventually Everton went ahead with 21 minutes remaining.
Tosun appeared marginally offside when initially flicking on Yannick Bolasie’s cross but the flag stayed down and Jack Butland reacted to push the ball into the air. From there substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin poked towards goal and though Stafylidis cleared off the line, Tosun was on hand to slam in the rebound.
Lambert responded by introducing Choupo-Moting and then Saido Berahino and the hosts soon drew level.
Joe Allen delivered a tempting free-kick between goalkeeper and defence from 25 yards out and Choupo-Moting stretched his right leg to prod the ball in.
However, he injured himself in the process and was unable to continue so Jese Rodriguez came on.
Stoke now had strikers Crouch, Berahino and Jese on the pitch in a desperate attempt to grab a winner and there was a warning sign they were susceptible at the other end when Theo Walcott nearly finished from Tosun’s pass.
The roles were reversed moments later and the Turkey international restored the visitors’ lead.
Coleman collected the ball on the right and he fed Walcott, who was allowed plenty of time to pick out Tosun. The striker stooped to beat Johnson to the ball with a header that Butland got a hand to but he could only push the ball into the corner.
Butland appeared annoyed that he had failed to keep out the attempt on a day when his battle with fellow England goalkeeper Pickford was under the microscope, but his ire should have been saved for Adam.
Huddersfield Town 0 Crystal Palace 2
James Tomkins and Luka Milivojevic struck in either half as Crystal Palace secured their first victory in over two months, running out 2-0 winners at relegation rivals Huddersfield.
Tomkins struck from close-range midway through the first period and Milivojevic converted a second-half penalty as Palace halted a four-game losing run to climb out of the bottom three.
The Londoners’ first win in eight Premier League games lifted them up to 16th in the table, one point and a place behind Huddersfield, who slipped to another damaging home league defeat — their sixth of the season.
Huddersfield had lost just one of their previous four Premier League games, while Palace arrived in West Yorkshire on the back of four straight defeats.
But the Londoners, buoyed by the return of Wilfried Zaha and Mamadou Sakho to their starting line-up, began full of purpose.
James McArthur’s shot was blocked following a corner and after Huddersfield striker Steve Mounie’s cross had bounced on top of the bar, Palace skipper Luka Milivojevic’s free-kick curled narrowly wide.
Palace took a 23rd-minute lead following Milivojevic’s corner. Town failed to clear and after Tomkins’ initial shot had been saved by Jonas Lossl, the Palace centre-half prodded home the rebound.
Huddersfield looked to respond immediately. Milivojevic’s superb last-ditch tackle on Alex Pritchard denied the midfielder a shooting chance in front of goal following Collin Quaner’s cut-back.
But despite taking the game to the visitors, Town did not muster one shot on target in the first half, while Andros Townsend fired over the crossbar at the end of a Palace counter-attack shortly before half-time.
David Wagner replaced left-back Scott Malone with Chris Lowe at the interval and Rajiv van La Parra went on for Ince soon after as Town struggled to build momentum.
Palace went close to increasing their lead from another corner in the 61st minute when Tomkins’ effort was cleared off the goal line by Mounie, who fired just beyond the far post at the other end as the game opened up.
The visitors grabbed the all-important second goal in the 68th minute when Milivojevic slammed home his penalty after Mathias Jorgensen was adjudged to have brought down Townsend on the left edge of the area.
TV replays appeared to justify referee Mike Dean’s decision and Huddersfield were staring at a damaging defeat.
Wagner sent on forward Elias Kachunga in place of Pritchard for the final 20 minutes, but Palace, by now benefiting from Zaha’s ball-carrying, continued to look the more dangerous side.
James McArthur headed Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross just wide and Cabaye forced Lossl to save his low effort.
Van La Parra’s low shot was comfortably saved by Wayne Hennessey, but Town served up little to warm a sold-out home crowd in the swirling snow.
Cabaye’s neat turn and volley forced Lossl into another save in the closing stages as Palace nothed their first win since January 13th.
