In a day of red cards, own goals and late strikes in the English Premier League, Chelsea produced a come-from-behind victory to go third in the standings, while Spurs and Everton picked up a point each as 10-man QPR agonisingly conceded in stoppage time to Wigan.
After 10-man Arsenal had picked up that nail-biting 2-1 win over West Brom on Saturday, the pressure was on both Chelsea and Tottenham to come away with three points, while Everton were desperate to keep their outside chances of qualifying for the Champions League alive.
However, it was the Blues that came out smiling, with a 2-1 victory over Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. Paolo Di Canio seemed to have worked his magic on his new team, when Sunderland took the lead through an own goal from Cesar Azplicueta, who could only deflect a header from a corner into his own net.
However, within ten minutes of the first half, Chelsea were 2-1 up thanks to an own goal from Matthew Kilgallon and a deflected effort from Bransilav Ivanovic.
The three points took Chelsea to third, two clear of Arsenal and level on points with Tottenham, who have played a game more.
Spurs got off to the perfect start at White Hart Lane with Emmanuel Adebayor giving his side a 1-0 lead over Everton in the first minute. However, the Toffees fought back through Phil Jagielka and a brilliant solo effort from the increasingly impressive Kevin Mirallas.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, though, rescued Spurs, without their talisman Gareth Bale, a point with a goal in 87th minute.
Everton are sixth on 52 points, four behind fifth-placed Arsenal, both with a game in hand, which is incidentally against each other. Liverpool remained seventh on 49 points, following their frustrating goalless draw against West Ham.
The fight at the bottom got a little more interesting, with Queens Park Rangers throwing away three points against Wigan.
The Latics had the upperhand for 70 minutes, after Bobby Zamora was sent off for a high challenge on Jordi Gomez. However, despite being a man down, QPR held on for much of the game and even took the lead in the 85th minute courtesy Loic Remy.
Shaun Maloney, though, popped up in the fourth minute of stoppage time to ensure a point for Wigan.
The result means QPR climb up to 19th on 24 points, one ahead of bottom club Reading, who lost to Southampton Saturday. Wigan are third bottom on 31 points, the same as Sunderland, who have also played a game more.
Newcastle moved further away from the relegation battle with a 1-0 win over Fulham. Papiss Cisse scored the winner in the third minute of stoppage time to take the Magpies up to 13th in the Premier League table.
