Liverpool closed the gap on leaders Manchester City with victory over West Ham, while Chelsea tightened their grip on third place in Saturday's Premier League action.
The Blues saw off Burnley 4-0 at Turf Moor, a scoreline that was matched by Aston Villa in their statement victory against Southampton.
Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Brentford also picked up wins, but it was a bad start to life under new management for Leeds in their early kick-off against Leicester City.
Following another eventful day of Premier League action, Stats Perform delves into the key Opta facts from each of the games.
Leeds United 0-1 Leicester City: New manager, same Leeds
Jesse Marsch's first game as Leeds boss ended in defeat to Leicester as United fell to a fifth successive league loss for the first time since April 2015, when they were in the Championship.
Leeds have failed to score in three straight league matches for the first time in a year, this despite registering 19 shots in their latest blank against Leicester.
United's expected goals (xG) return of 1.95 is their highest without scoring in a league game since June 2020, and the familiar failings were also on show at the other end.
Harvey Barnes' second-half winner means Leeds have gone 13 league games without a clean sheet, their longest-such run since 14 without a shutout ending in August 2016.
This was the fifth straight league game Barnes has scored against Leeds – four of those while playing for Leicester and one for West Brom, making them his favourite opponent.
Aston Villa 4-0 Southampton: Coutinho's home comforts
Villa are firmly back on track after registering back-to-back victories under Steven Gerrard for the first time since his opening two games in charge in November.
The Villans put four unanswered goals past Southampton at Villa Park for their biggest Premier League win since thrashing Liverpool 7-2 in October 2020.
Barcelona loanee Philippe Coutinho once again played a big part in the victory by scoring one and assisting another for Douglas Luiz.
Coutinho has now been directly involved in six goals in his first four home league games for Villa, scoring three of his own and setting up as many.
Ollie Watkins had earlier opened the scoring with his 21st Premier League strike since the start of the 2020-21 season, while Danny Ings added to his two assists with Villa's fourth goal.
Newcastle United 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion: Fraser helps end Magpies' duck against Seagulls
For a while things looked incredibly bleak for Newcastle, even after their big-money takeover, but they now find themselves seven points above the relegation zone.
The Magpies held off Brighton to make it eight Premier League games without defeat – no team is on a better such run – with five of those matches ending in victory.
Ryan Fraser opened the scoring to make it two goals in five Premier League outings, matching his tally from his previous 70 appearances, before setting up Fabian Schar.
That was the earliest United have scored twice in a Premier League home game since January 2007 and, despite Lewis Dunk's header, Eddie Howe's side saw out the win.
It marks the first time Newcastle have defeated Brighton in the Premier League in their 10th such encounter, having previously failed to so much as score against them at home.
Norwich City 1-3 Brentford: Bees buzzing thanks to Toney treble
After a run of eight Premier League games without a win, Brentford bolstered their survival ambitions with a well-earned victory away at bottom side Norwich.
Ivan Toney was the hero for the Bees with three goals, two of those from the penalty spot, making Brentford the 40th different team to boast a hat-trick scorer.
The Brentford striker now has nine Premier League goals for the season, each of those coming via his right foot.
Teemu Pukki scored a consolation but it was another miserable day for Norwich, whose goal difference of -42 is the worst at this stage since Derby County in 2007-08 (-44).
Not that it will matter a great deal in the grand scheme of things, but Brentford are the first team Pukki has scored home and away against in a single Premier League season.
Wolves 0-2 Crystal Palace: Shaky Wanderers lose again
Wolves' European hopes suffered another blow as they fell to a third successive Premier League defeat, as many as they lost in their previous 13.
Bruno Lage's out-of-form side have now conceded six goals in their last four league games, after shipping just five in 12 before that.
Jean-Philippe Mateta came up with the breakthrough from close range for his fourth goal in eight Premier League starts, and Wilfried Zaha doubled Palace's lead from the penalty spot.
Ivory Coast international Zaha has now been directly involved in 83 goals in the competition, the joint-ninth best total for an African player, level with Nwankwo Kanu.
With this latest loss, it is the first time Wolves have lost three games in a row against Palace in their entire league history.
Burnley 0-4 Chelsea: Blues cruise at Turf Moor
It was business as usual for Chelsea as they won for a third Premier League game running without conceding in what proved to be a straightforward victory at lowly Burnley.
The Blues scored all four of their goals in the second half as they enjoyed their biggest away league win since October 2018 when also beating Burnley by the same scoreline.
This was the biggest margin of victory for an away side in a game that was goalless at half-time since Tottenham beat Aston Villa 4-0 in December 2012.
Reece James started the scoring and in the process became the first defender from Europe's top five leagues to both score and assist five goals this term in all competitions.
Kai Havertz also netted twice before Christian Pulisic added some gloss to the scoreline – his fourth goal at Turf Moor, matching a record for an away player set by Tottenham's Harry Kane.
Liverpool 1-0 West Ham: Reds roll on thanks to Mane
Sadio Mane's first-half goal made it seven wins in a row for Liverpool in the Premier League, their best such streak since a run of 18 when they claimed the title two years ago.
That close-range finish was Mane's 12th of the season in the league, nine of those coming at Anfield – no player has scored more home goals in the division this season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold played the ball into the box for Mane's goal for his 16th assist in all competitions this term, more than he has ever registered in a single campaign.
Liverpool were not at their best and that was particularly true of Mohamed Salah, who failed to score from six shots – only against Stoke in April 2018 (seven) has he fared worse.
Incredibly, Virgil van Dijk has never been on the losing side for Liverpool in 60 Premier League home games at Anfield, setting a new record in that regard.
Titans edge IPL season opener as Gaikwad's knock proves fruitless
Ruturaj Gaikwad's stunning knock was not enough as Chennai Super Kings suffered a five-wicket loss to reigning Indian Premier League champions Gujarat Titans in Friday's thrilling season opener.
Gaikwad scored 92 from 50 balls at Narendra Modi Stadium, tallying up the third-highest score in an IPL season opener, after Brendon McCullum's 158 in 2008 and Rohit Sharma's 98 in 2015.
The Super Kings reached 178-7 from their 20 overs, with captain MS Dhoni hitting an unbeaten 14 from seven balls in the closing stages of their innings.
Titans debutant Kane Williamson suffered a knee injury while fielding and was unable to bat, but Gujarat made a strong start, reaching 37 from the first 23 deliveries before Wriddhiman Saha succumbed to Rajvardhan Hangargekar (3-36).
Shubman Gill (63) expertly anchored the innings, though Chennai looked well placed to push on for victory when Tushar Deshpande dismissed the opener in the 15th over, following on from Sai Sudharsan and Hardik Pandya losing their wickets.
Their chances of victory looked greater still when the dangerous Vijay Shankar (27 from 21) was brilliantly caught out by Mitchell Santner, leaving the Titans requiring 30 from 18 balls.
Yet an expensive over from Deepak Chahar saw Rashid Khan add 10 runs in the space of two deliveries, and similar slackness from Hangargekar enabled Rahul Tewatia to seal victory.
Gaikwad and Gill the stars of the show
Gaikwad's exceptional 92 came at a strike rate of 184. His knock included nine sixes, with a further four shots hitting the rope.
Gill, though, provided the steady pair of hands needed to help push the Titans to victory. His 63 came at a S/R of 175, the second-highest in IPL history (minimum 25 runs).
Ton up for Shami
It was the Super Kings' death bowling that let them down, and they will rue an opportunity missed to claim their first win over the Titans.
The champions' bowlers did not perform brilliantly either, but Mohammed Shami's 2-29 saw him move onto 101 IPL wickets. He is the 15th Indian and 19th bowler overall to reach that milestone.
The Numbers Game: Dortmund out to end Munich misery as Bayern boss Tuchel crosses divide
German football's biggest game will take on extra significance this weekend when Bayern Munich host Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena.
Dortmund have mounted a serious challenge to Bayern's sustained Bundesliga dominance this season and lead the defending champions by a point.
Bayern's inability to take control of the title race led to them surprisingly parting ways with Julian Nagelsmann on March 24.
His replacement, a man who has the other side of this storied rivalry, Thomas Tuchel, who was BVB coach from 2015 to 2017.
Tuchel's Dortmund overcame Bayern en route to DFB-Pokal glory in 2017, but the former Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss is now immediately under tremendous pressure to deliver victory for Die Roten.
For Dortmund, a win in Bavaria could go a long way to helping Edin Terzic's men seal the title.
But history is firmly against them doing that. With the help of Opta numbers, Stats Perform previews a potential title decider.
Dortmund's Munich misery
Dortmund's 2-2 draw with Bayern in the reverse fixture ended a run of eight consecutive defeats in competitive matches against them.
But the Allianz Arena has become a house of horrors for BVB. Indeed, Dortmund have lost their last eight away games against Bayern in the league.
In Dortmund's Bundesliga history, they have only had one longer losing streak away from home: versus Werder Bremen from 1979 to 1989 (10 matches).
Good omens for BVB
By their lofty standards, Bayern have struggled mightily in 2023.
They have won only five of their 10 Bundesliga games in 2023 (D3 L2) and have 52 points after 25 games.
That is their lowest at this stage of the season since 2011-12, when they had 51 points. The season ended with Dortmund winning the title, Bayern have not failed to do so since.
Since this campaign resumed, Dortmund have claimed a league-high 22 points in eight games. That is a club record for BVB after eight games in the second half of the season. The last time they collected as many points at this stage was the 2011-12 title-winning season under Jurgen Klopp.
The omens are good for Dortmund as they look to end Bayern's reign, but they will need to avoid a repeat of what happened the last time they were top of the Bundesliga in the second half of the season.
Table toppers in trouble?
Dortmund are top of the table for the first time since the second matchday of the 2019-20 season.
Prior to this campaign, they had not been at the summit in the second half of the season since matchday 27 in 2018-19, which saw them thrashed 5-0 by Bayern at the Allianz Arena.
Simply put, Dortmund cannot afford the same outcome this time around if they are to maintain their push to dethrone Bayern.
Newcastle United v Manchester United: Preview and prediciton
Newcastle United are heading into a "massive month" as they bid for Champions League qualification, and their first task is EFL Cup final foes Manchester United.
Newcastle's long wait for a major trophy goes on after they were beaten 2-0 by Man United at Wembley in February.
This can still be a successful season for the Magpies, however, with a top-four finish within their hands. They could even leapfrog third-placed Man United with a win on Sunday.
Eddie Howe's side will not be short of motivation for that match at St James' Park, although it is far from the last big game they have in April.
There are another six fixtures to come before the end of the month, and Howe said: "It's a massive month. Whenever you have an intense period of games, you know those results are going to define what we do this season.
"The last two results [wins against Wolves and Nottingham Forest] put us in a really strong position and also just lifted confidence levels and morale in the squad.
"This is going to be a big week to come. It's Manchester United first, so we have to focus on that alone and learn our lessons from the cup final defeat."
The EFL Cup clash came after Erik ten Hag had described Newcastle as "annoying" in reference to their gamesmanship.
Although Howe suggested on Friday such claims had been "overblown", he confirmed Newcastle would be out to annoy their opponents.
That is certainly what Ten Hag expects as he revisited the top before this encounter, saying: "We know they delay. It's something that the referee doesn't want.
"Whey want to have tempo in the game, that is the aim of the Premier League, so they have to be consistent to let the game go."
He added: "It's a team that is really hard to beat. We are looking forward to the challenge, and the evidence is we can beat them."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Newcastle United – Alexander Isak
Isak returned injured the last time he went away on international duty in September, missing more than three months as a result. This time, the forward appears to be fit after featuring for Sweden and is coming into form, scoring six times in 10 league matches this season.
Isak has three in his last two games, with Freddie Ljungberg and Zlatan Ibrahimovic the only Swedish players to have previously netted in three in a row in the competition.
Manchester United – Marcus Rashford
Rashford, unlike Isak, did not go away on international duty, complaining of a problem ahead of linking up with England. That appeared to frustrate Gareth Southgate, but it should have him fit for this game.
It is a boost to United, with Rashford scoring more winning goals than any other player in the Premier League this season. His nine have only twice been topped by a United player in a single campaign – Cristiano Ronaldo (12 in 2007-08) and Wayne Rooney (10 in 2009-10).
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
Newcastle are winless in six against Man United in the Premier League, but their past two meetings – the only two under Howe – have both ended in draws.
It was goalless between the sides at Old Trafford. Although Newcastle have not kept clean sheets in consecutive games against Man United since May 1997, the visitors are without a goal in their past two league games.
The Magpies are more than capable of frustrating their opponents if they have a result to protect, too, with their matches this season spanning the third-longest period of time on average at 98 minutes and 58 seconds but seeing a ball-in-play low of 51 minutes and 41 seconds.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Newcastle - 34.3 per cent
Man United - 36.8 per cent
Draw - 28.9 per cent
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
