Queens Park Rangers have given themselves every chance of survival after winning a second match on the trot in the Premier League.
The R's stayed bottom of the table but equalled Reading on 23 points by coming from behind to deny Sunderland 3-1 at Loftus Road and are now just four points from the safety zone.
Steven Fletcher opened the scoring for the Black Cats in the 20th minute but Loic Remy cancelled that out ten minutes later before Andros Townsend edged QPR ahead with 20 minutes left and then Jermaine Jenas came up with a 90th minute winner.
West Bromwich Albion consolidated their position in the top half of the table thanks to a 2-1 home victory over Swansea City which came courtesy of a Jonathan de Guzman own-goal which was their third defeat in their past five outings.
With a few matches postponed due to FA Cup ties, there was only a total of six Premier League fixtures played on the weekend with Norwich City drawing 0-0 with Southampton at home, Aston Villa securing a much-needed 2-1 victory at fellow relegation battlers Reading whilst Newcastle United produced a late show to edge Stoke City 2-1.
And in the match of the round, Liverpool came from behind to defeat Tottenham 3-2 after leading through Luis Suarez in the 21st minute. Jan Vertonghen gave Spurs the lead with goals either side of the break but Liverpool struck back through Stewart Downing and then a Steven Gerrard penalty to go sixth on the table.
2012/13 Barclays Premier League season scores
Norwich City: 0 (penalty miss: Grant Holt 90+3') Southampton: 0 Carrow Road, Norwich - 26,783
Queens Park Rangers: 3 (Loic Remy 30', Andros Townsend 70', Jermaine Jenas 90') Sunderland: 1 (Steven Fletcher 20') Loftus road, London - 18,169
Reading: 1 (Nathan Baker (og) 32') Aston Villa: 2 (Christian Benteke 33', Gabriel Agbonlahor 45') Madejski Stadium, Reading - 24,102
West Bromwich Albion: 2 (Romelu Lukaku 40', penalty miss: Lukaku 56', Jonathan de Guzman (og) 61') Swansea City: 1 (Luke Moore 33') The Hawthorns, West Bromwich - 24,832
Newcastle United: 2 (Yohan Cabaye 72', Papiss Cise 90+2') Stoke City: 1 (Jonathan Walters (p) 67') St James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne - 50,703
Liverpool: 3 (Luis Suarez 21', Stewart Downing 66', Steven Gerrard (p) 82') Tottenham: 2 (Jan Vertonghen 45'/53') Anfield, Liverpool - 44,752
