Newcastle fourth as Spurs, Chelsea stumble

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Newcastle United seized control of the battle for fourth place in the Premier League on Saturday as Tottenham and Chelsea stumbled in the race for a Champions League qualifying berth.

Two goals from Yohan Cabaye and one from Papiss Cisse gave Newcastle a 3-0 win over Stoke City at St James' Park, a result that saw the Magpies move up to fourth place with four games remaining.

And with Tottenham slipping to a 1-0 defeat against relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea only managing a 0-0 draw at Arsenal, Newcastle's hopes of a Champions League spot is in their own hands.

The Magpies lead fifth-placed Spurs by three points having played the same number of games, while Chelsea are languishing in sixth, four points adrift.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew admitted the club was dreaming of a fairytale finish to the season after his side's sixth straight win.

"With four games left, we can still get into the Champions League. We will try to win them all and see where that takes us," Pardew said.

"We've got momentum and that's a dangerous tool to have in your locker. We are playing with confidence and got ourselves in a fantastic position, perhaps better than we thought we might be in."

Tottenham could have finished the day in fourth but their miserable recent run of league form continued as they slipped to a 1-0 loss to 10-man QPR at Loftus Road.

Adel Taarabt scored the game's only goal with a 24th-minute free-kick before being sent off late in the game after a second bookable offence.

"We had enough of the ball and enough chances, but we just couldn't score," said Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp.

"We just couldn't get the break, we just needed a bit of luck in front of goal."

Earlier Chelsea's bid for Europe suffered a setback with their failure to beat Arsenal at the Emirates.

Nevertheless, Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo was satisfied with the result, which came after a gruelling week that included victory over Spurs in the FA Cup before a hard-fought win in their Champions League semi-final first leg with Barcelona.

With one eye on next week's return leg at Camp Nou, Di Matteo made eight changes to his starting line-up.

"It was a brilliant team performance. You come to the Emirates and it's difficult to play against Arsenal," said Di Matteo.

"This was our third game in less than six days. The way they've responded to this -- personally, I think it's crazy -- but we showed there's great quality in this team and our spirit is high."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was philosophical after a result that saw his team remain in third place, just three points clear of Newcastle.

"We still had the chances to win the game; they had zero. I cannot remember them having one clear-cut chance," Wenger said.

"I expected the game to be open because they had to win and we had to win. But it wasn't so it shows you how unpredictable football is."

With title rivals Manchester United and Manchester City having games on Sunday, attention elsewhere on Saturday focused on the battle to beat the drop.

Wigan Athletic's hopes of pulling clear of the relegation zone suffered a setback as they lost 2-1 at Fulham, Philippe Senderos scoring an 89th-minute winner to sink the Latics at Craven Cottage.

Senderos' winner came after Wigan had taken the lead through Emmerson Boyce on 57 minutes before Pavel Pogrebnyak got Fulham back on level terms.

Blackburn Rovers ended a run of five consecutive defeats to score a 2-0 win over Norwich City at Ewood Park.

The win left Rovers third from bottom, three points adrift of Wigan in 17th place and QPR in 16th, who both have 34 points.

Mauro Formica and Junior Hoilett scored the goals for Rovers as Steve Kean's side gave themselves a Premier League lifeline.

Bolton Wanderers, meanwhile, remain in the bottom three after being held 1-1 by Swansea at the Reebok Stadium.

Scott Sinclair put Swansea ahead after only six minutes, curling his shot into the far corner after cutting in from the left flank, before Chris Eagles levelled in the 14th minute.

In the other match on Saturday, Aston Villa and Sunderland played out a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.