Leicester City's Premier League title dream moved closer to reality after a Wednesday wipe-out brought defeats for its nearest challangers Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Mancheter City. Tottenham was primed to take advantage of Leicester's 2-2 home draw with West Bromwich Albion Tuesday and would have gone top on goal difference with victory at West Ham United but it went down 1-0 to end a six-match winning run. Michail Antonio's early headed goal proved decisive at Upton Park and if Leicester fans thought that was good their night got even better as third-placed Arsenal slumped 2-1 at home to Swansea City and fourth-placed City was thrashed 3-0 at Liverpool, three days after beating it in the League Cup final. With 10 matches remaining, Leicester has 57 points, Tottenham 54, Arsenal 51 and City, which has a game in hand, 47, ahead of Manchester United only on goal difference after Juan Mata's late strike earned it a 1-0 win over Watford. West Ham, on 46 points, is also in the mix for Champions League qualification after putting the brakes on Tottenham's title charge in a typically tense derby in east London. Antonio struck the game's only goal in the seventh minute, heading in Dimitri Payet's corner, and West Ham could have been further ahead before Tottenham improved in the second half. Harry Kane wasted Tottenham's best chance, scuffing a close-range rebound after West Ham keeper Adrian saved a low 25-meter drive from Toby Alderweireld. Arsenal was hoping to bounce back from Sunday's defeat at Manchester United and Joel Campbell firing it ahead but goals from Wayne Routledge and Ashley Williams gave Swansea three vital points in its bid to move away from trouble. Manager Arsene Wenger said his side was unlucky but Arsenal's fans made its feelings clear, booing the side off after a dismal second-half display. Manchester City's third consecutive league defeat left it looking over its shoulders. Adam Lallana and James Milner scored before halftime and Roberto Firmino sealed the points after the break. At the other end of the table, Newcastle United's plight worsened as a 1-0 defeat at Stoke City left it second from bottom with 24 points, the same total as Norwich City and Sunderland who are directly above them. PSG in Cup semis In Paris, Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled the strings as Paris Saint Germain cruised into the French Cup semifinals Wednesday with a 3-1 away win at Saint Etienne. The result saw PSG bounce back from its first domestic defeat in a year, a 2-1 league loss at Lyon at the weekend, with goals from Edinson Cavani, Marquinhos and late substitute Lucas. In an all top-flight quarterfinal earlier Wednesday, Lorient, on the back of two league wins, cruised past Gazalec Ajaccio 3-0. The shock of the evening came when second division Sochaux made the semifinals when it put an end to top flight Nantes' 16-game unbeaten run. Nantes had been leading for most of the game before Moussa Sow got an equalizer in the 87th minute to send the game into extra-time. Substitute Sekou Cissé made it 2-1 against the run of play before Sow sealed the win for the former Peugeot factory side and despite a late consolation from the Brazilian Adryan Socahux is into the final four. — Agencies
