Premier League: West Ham loses in blow to survival bid before Arsenal plays Fulham
West Ham's survival bid in the Premier League was damaged by a 3-0 loss at Brentford on Saturday, a result that will give Tottenham renewed hope of escaping relegation. Brazil striker Igor Thiago — with a penalty for his 22nd goal of the season — was among the scorers for Brentford as West Ham stayed two points above Tottenham , which is in third-to-last place — the final relegation spot. Spurs, who played in the Champions League this season and have been in the top flight since the late 1970s, visit Aston Villa on Sunday and then there are three more rounds remaining.
Brentford climbed to sixth place, seven points behind fifth-place Aston Villa. The top five qualify automatically for the Champions League. Brighton is a point behind Brentford in seventh after losing 3-1 at Newcastle, which ended a four-match losing run in the league that has piled the pressure on manager Eddie Howe .
William Osula and Dan Burn were Newcastle's scorers in the first half before Jack Hinshelwood replied for Brighton after the break. Harvey Barnes scored Newcastle's third in stoppage time. Sunderland had defender Dan Ballard sent off for pulling an opponent's hair in the team's 1-1 draw at already-relegated Wolverhampton, the league's last-place club.
Later, Arsenal takes on Fulham seeking a win to move six points clear of second-place Manchester City in the title race. ___ Steve Douglas is at https://twitter. com/sdouglas80 ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.
com/hub/soccer