Premier League, Week 31: Queens Park Rangers implode against Fulham

After the break, they had more than hope. It was an all-out onslaught from the visitors, and within three minutes of the restart they had yet another foothold in the game -- or so it seemed. Taraabt went down under Karagounis’ challenge, Jon Moss pointed to the spot... and Loic Remy’s effort was kept out by Schwarzer, how went hard to his left for the stop.

And then, three minutes after missing the penalty, Remy scored. Mbia produced a wonderful through ball to catch out Hangeland, and the former Marseille man controlled brilliantly and slotted past Schwarzer to bring the deficit back to a solitary goal.

Still, they are seven points adrift of safety and will be without Samba Diakité, Andy Johnson and Armand Traoré for this trip to Craven Cottage, though those absentees won’t give Redknapp too much to worry about. What is rather more concerning is their away record, having won just twice on the road in the league since November 2011 -- though both of those wins have come since the start of this calendar year.

Fulham injuries and suspensions

Aston Villa injuries and suspensions

Out: Chris Herd (ankle), Marc Albrighton (ankle), Richard Dunne (groin), Gary Gardner (knee) In doubt: Ciaran Clark (shoulder), Brett Holman (hamstring)

The Toffees continued to apply pressure but going behind seemed to inspire the visitors into mounting some sort of coherent attack, and Stoke did manage to force the ball home in the 37th minute only to see the goal rightly disallowed for a Shawcross offside. Howard was then called into action to parry aside Jonathan Walters’ angled drive, ensuring that the 1-0 lead lasted until halftime.

But Stoke needed to make more headway than they were managing, and the introductions of Kenwyne Jones and Charlie Adam didn’t do much to help the visitors break down the massed Everton defence. It wasn’t exactly comfortable for the Toffees in the closing stages, but despite a very late free kick at the edge of the box it never looked like the hosts would be dropping points in this one. And they didn’t.

Chelsea had rotated plenty of players with their game against Manchester United in the FA Cup looming, and it showed as they put together a largely disjointed performance from a lineup that would have given the Saints a huge boost before a ball had been kicked.

Yet in a game that was swinging one way to the other, Chelsea were not level for long. It was another set-piece that brought the next goal, although it was a moment of real class, Rickie Lambert firing a glorious 30-yard free-kick into the top corner of the net that left Cech without a prayer.

The myth concerning Tottenham’s status as a one-man team appears to finally be over: they are, in fact, comprised of two men.

Swansea almost restored parity shortly afterwards, as Michu used his height to get above the Tottenham defence, but his finishing in the air is not quite of the standard of that on the ground, and he headed a decent cross wide to miss the opportunity. It was to prove costly - shortly afterwards, Swansea were two goals behind.

It was not a pretty game but in the end Wigan won’t care as a late goal from Arouna Koné gave his side a 1-0 victory and allowed the Latics to move clear of the relegation zone.

Not much to discuss from the first half at the DW Stadium. It was a fairly dire affair in which neither side seemed very keen on actually scoring. Perhaps both defenses deserve credit but whatever the reason it wasn’t that great to watch. There were a couple entertaining moments worth mentioning though.

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Arsenal injuries and suspensions

Reading injuries and suspensions

Southampton injuries and suspensions

In doubt: Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Jos Hooiveld.

Manchester City injuries and suspensions

Newcastle injuries and suspensions

Sunderland injuries and suspensions

Out: Steven Fletcher (ankle), Lee Cattermole (knee), Wes Brown (knee) In doubt: Carlos Cuellar (ankle), David Vaughan (groin), Stéphane Sessègnon (groin)