West Ham United boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation with a 3-0 win at Wigan Athletic on Saturday, but fellow strugglers Charlton Athletic suffered a huge blow in a 4-1 drubbing at Blackburn Rovers.
With two matches left to play and Watford already relegated, five clubs are seeking to avoid the final two relegation places: Sheffield United, Fulham, Wigan, West Ham and Charlton.
Sheffield United moved towards safety with a 1-0 win over doomed Watford that lifted them to 15th place on 38 points.
They are followed by Fulham, who have 36 points and three games left including yesterday's match at Arsenal, Wigan on 35 and ahead of West Ham on goal difference, Charlton on 33 and Watford with 24.
Portuguese forward Luis Boa Morte scored his first goal for the Hammers since joining them from Fulham in January, finding the net from the edge of the area on the halfhour mark.
Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun hit a second in the 57th minute and Marlon Harewood added the third on the break to secure the east Londoners' fifth win in seven games -- and their best win in the league this season.
"We knew it was a game we had to win," West Ham manager Alan Curbishley told Sky Sports News. "It gives us great heart for next week. We're still alive."
Charlton paid for a nightmare four minutes in the second half, with Jason Roberts putting Blackburn ahead on the hour and then Charlton defender Ben Thatcher getting red-carded.
Though the Addicks levelled through Darren Bent, an own goal by Icelandic defender Hermann Hreidarsson, another Roberts strike and one from Matt Derbyshire gave Rovers a comfortable finish.
Sheffield United had an own goal by Watford's veteran defender Chris Powell just before half-time to thank for a win that should keep Neil Warnock's men in the top-flight.
"It's a great feeling to get the result that we wanted," Warnock said.
West Ham's win came a day after the Premier League handed West Ham a record ?5.5 million fine (US$11 million), instead of a points deduction, for irregularities over the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano in August last year.
The Premier League decision was certainly not well received at Wigan, especially after the emphatic West Ham victory dramatically altered the relegation fight at the foot of the division.
"I don't want this to sound like sour grapes," Jewell said. "And I don't want anyone to get relegated because of an administrative mistake. But I knew for a fact when they said they would have the hearing with two or three games to go that there wouldn't be points deducted."
"If it had been Wigan or Watford, or if West Ham were down already, they would have had points taken off them," the irate Latics manager said. "One of the reasons they gave [for no point deduction] was it was because of the fans. What does that mean!"
"Their fans have been fantastic, they are tremendous supporters, but what does that mean? If you have got a big fan base you can't get points deducted?" Jewell said.
Predictably, West Ham manager Alan Curbishley did not share Jewell's sentiments and was clearly relieved at the outcome of the hearing and his team's visit to the JJB Stadium.
"It was out of my hands, whatever decision was made. If points had been deducted, what could we do? But the ?5.5 million didn't go down too well either! I'm glad I don't have to pay it," he said.
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