Brighton strengthened their chances of making it to Europe with a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace in their Premier League rivalry, while Brentford furthered Southampton's relegation woes on Wednesday.
Solly March's goal at the soggy Amex Stadium gave Roberto De Zerbi's team their first triumph over bitter rivals Palace in eight league meetings.
With the Seagulls already having the victory, seventh-placed Brighton and sixth-placed Liverpool are now tied on points.
Finishing sixth will ensure qualification for the European Conference League the following season; however, if Manchester City or Manchester United win the FA Cup, that position will drop to seventh.
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Brighton's 2018-19 campaign is taking shape as they prepare to meet fourth-tier Grimsby in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.
As they waited for their first win in 2023, their longtime rivals, Palace, saw their winless record extend to 12 games across all competitions.
The supporters' comprehension of our style of play is crucial, and doing so in England is a significant barrier, according to De Zerbi.
"The players support our approach. Even though we didn't play at our best, a victory is still better".
Palace is still three points above the drop zone.
For the first time since the statistic was started in 2003-04, Patrick Vieira's club had gone three straight Premier League games without having a shot on target.
Early in the first half, Wilfried Zaha's shot forced Jason Steele to make a save, ending Palace's dreadful run.
Vicente Guaita's late injury forced Vieira to give teenage goalkeeper Joseph Whitworth his professional debut.
- March Establishes Himself -
Whitworth, who turned 19 years old 15 days ago, became the Premier League's youngest goalkeeper since Ben Alnwick, who played for Sunderland against Tottenham in 2005 at 18.
Whitworth, a former member of the youth academy and a lifelong supporter of Palace, learned the hard way when his feeble attempt at a stop allowed March's low shot to wriggle into the net in the 15th minute.
With Gareth Southgate announcing his team on Thursday for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine, March's goal came just 24 hours after De Zerbi declared the midfielder merits a spot in the England squad.
A power outage that left the stadium in complete darkness for five minutes during the second half caused a delay, but Brighton was unfazed, and the high-flying Seagulls kept on going.
Just across the south coast at St. Mary's, Brentford, one spot behind Brighton and having their own European aspirations, defeated bottom-of-the-table Southampton 2-0.
In their 13th Premier League game against Everton last weekend, Brentford suffered their first loss.
Ivan Toney scored his 16th league goal this season in the 32nd minute with a tap-in after Christian Norgaard headed Bryan Mbeumo's corner over the six-yard box. But they came back.
Deep into stoppage time, Yoane Wissa scored Brentford's second goal with a precise finish from the edge of the box.
In the battle for survival, Southampton is two points from safety and has played one more game than any of the teams directly above them.
"I believe there is belief. To change the circumstance, we have been working hard. The outcome made today disappointing, according to Southampton manager Ruben Selles".
"We still have the 'we can do it' attitude. We'll continue to toil, struggle, and try to survive".
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