Newcastle missed a chance to rein in fourth-placed Chelsea as they succumbed to a 5-2 Barclays Premier League defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Earlier, Fernando Torres and Chelsea were left frustrated as the fourth-placed Blues were held to a goalless draw at mid-table Norwich in the lunchtime kick-off.
QPR climbed out of the bottom three with a 3-1 win over bottom club Wigan at Loftus Road in Mark Hughes’ first home league game in charge.
QPR’s win dropped Wolves into the bottom three, as they lost 3-2 at home to Aston Villa, for whom former Molineux favourite Robbie Keane scored a brace.
QPR are also now above Blackburn, who drew 1-1 at Everton.
Sunderland’s revival under Martin O’Neill continued as they won 2-0 at home to Swansea.
West Brom ended a run of three straight league defeats with a last-gasp 2-1 win at Stoke.
