Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s diving header gifted Carlo Ancelotti a winning start to life at Everton over Burnley at Goodison Park.
The Italian’s first game since replacing Marco Silva was delicately poised until Djibril Sidibe swung over a delightful cross that Calvert-Lewin glanced home into the far left corner.
The win takes Everton up to 13th and now just three points off the top half with a trip to Newcastle next up on Saturday.
Jordan Ayew produced a wonder goal in the 90th minute to earn Crystal Palace a 2-1 win over West Ham and pile the pressure back on Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Cheikhou Kouyate had haunted his old club with an equaliser after Robert Snodgrass’ opener for the visitors, but Chilean Pellegrini looked set to watch his team make it two games without a defeat.
That was until Ayew spun away from two defenders and chipped over goalkeeper Roberto, much to the delight of boss Roy Hodgson.
For Pellegrini, it compounded another day to forget with his captain Mark Noble and team-mate Angelo Ogbonna almost coming to blows in the 53rd minute to highlight the problems at the east London club.
Conor Hourihane breathed fresh life into Aston Villa‘s survival hopes as his goal earned a crucial win over Norwich.
The substitute struck in the second half to seal a 1-0 victory and strike a huge blow to the Canaries’ own hopes of staying up.
Villa had lost seven of their previous nine top-flight games and, while victory failed to lift them out of the Premier League relegation zone, they head to Watford on Saturday with renewed hope, now a point from safety.
Norwich slumped to the bottom of the Premier League after a 10th defeat in 14 games and were again left to rue missed chances.
Watford moved off the bottom of the Premier League after a spirited performance earned them a 1-1 draw at dominant Sheffield United on Thursday.
The visitors took a 27th-minute lead through Gerard Deulofeu against the run of play before Oliver Norwood levelled with a 36th-minute penalty after Will Hughes tripped George Baldock.
The result left Watford 19th on 13 points from 19 games, one ahead of bottom team Norwich City, while Sheffield United slipped one place down to sixth on 29 points.PA contributed to this report
Click here for our guide on how to watch all Amazon Prime Premier League fixtures for free, on 26 and 27 of December.
