Grant gets the chop as Wigan execute West Ham

All of London's five clubs were in action on Sunday and there were mixed fortunes for the north London contingent. While Arsenal suffered yet another humiliating defeat – losing 2-1 at home to Aston Villa – Spurs secured a precious away win at Liverpool to leapfrog the Reds into fifth place and keep alive their hopes of qualifying for next season's Europa League.

Chelsea, meanwhile, were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Newcastle, a result that was less damaging than it might have been - what, with Arsenal's defeat. The Blues are now all-but guaranteed second spot while the Gunners will probably finish fourth, missing out on automatic qualification to the Champions League, as Manchester City lie just two points behind but have a game in hand.

At the other end of the table West Ham lost the battle of the basement to Wigan and were relegated as a result. Shortly after the 3-2 defeat the Hammers announced that they were parting company with manager Avram Grant, who said later: "It is very sad for me, the amazing supporters and the club... it is the worst day of my football life."

According to the BBC Grant was sacked minutes after the final whistle of a match that the Hammers at one stage had been leading 2-0. A reporter for the BBC said later: "Grant then disappeared and around 20 minutes later a West Ham spokesman returned to the press room to tell the waiting media that Avram Grant was no longer West Ham's manager and that Kevin Keen would take charge of their final game."

Nonetheless a clearly emotional Grant appeared for the post-match press conference and refused to discuss his personal situation, replying when asked if he'd been sacked: "My future is not important now. All I care about is the commitment to the team and the fans. It's a big club and I'm sure they will come back to the Premier League."

There'll be more than the odd Arsenal fan wondering whether their club might not be better off with a new face at the helm next season as the Gunners slumped to yet another defeat, this time at home to struggling Aston Villa.

The Gunners have managed to win just one of their last ten league matches and for a club with such lofty aspirations that simply isn't good enough. Were Wenger in charge of Manchester City or Chelsea he would be looking nervously over his shoulder but at Arsenal his position appears secure – even though he hasn't guided the Gunners to a trophy for six long years.

Darren Bent was the man who did the damage for Villa, the England striker scoring twice in the opening 15 minutes as the visitors stunned the shocked home crowd into silence. Robin Van Persie pulled a goal back on 89 minutes for Arsenal but the sense of anger among the Emirates faithful was palpable at the final whistle.

But after a stony-faced lap of honour to mark the last game of the season at the Emirates, Wenger shrugged off the humiliation saying later: "Let's not go overboard, we are not fighting relegation. We want to do well next Sunday. I want to finish on a better game than that." To which Arsenal fans are entitled to reply that if the side plays in a similar vein next season they will be battling relegation.

Tottenham kept alive their hopes of qualifying for next season's Europa League with an impressive 2-0 win at Anfield. Rafael van der Vaart put the Lilywhites ahead on nine minutes with a sweet strike from 20 yards and Luka Modric doubled the Tottenham advantage in the second half after John Flanagan had fouled Steven Pienaar.

The result means Spurs move above Liverpool into fifth position and are one point ahead of their Merseyside rivals going into the last match of the season. With Spurs at home to Birmingham next Sunday and Liverpool travelling to Aston Villa, the win for Harry Redknapp's men puts them firmly in the driving seat.

"To come here and win is a rarity for Tottenham," said the Spurs boss afterwards. "But we have done it today and I thought we deserved it. It was a good performance. We're trying to get in that fifth spot like Liverpool. We've both got big games next week and we will see what happens then."

In the other game of the day, Fulham followed Tottenham's lead in racking up an away victory with the Cottagers beating Birmingham 2-0 at St Andrew's. The defeat leaves the Blues in 17th spot, one point above the relegation zone but level on points with Wigan in 19th and Blackpool in 18th.

So while the Hammers are down the two remaining relegation spots could go to any of five sides, including Wolves and Blackburn, who are still not safe even though both picked up points on Saturday (Wolves beat Sunderland and Blackburn drew with Manchester United).

With the title now done and dusted, all eyes will be on the five-team shoot-out at the foot of the table next weekend. ·