LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - Arsenal threw down the gauntlet to Manchester City in the Premier League title race with a 3-0 home cruise against Fulham on Saturday putting them six points clear at the top.
Viktor Gyokeres scored twice in the first half at The Emirates to put his side in control, with Bukayo Saka also on target as Arsenal ramped up the pressure on City.
It was the perfect day for Arsenal who will now be firmly back in control of their destiny if City fail to win the first of their two games in hand away at Everton on Monday.
West Ham United's survival hopes suffered a blow when they went down 3-0 at Brentford for whom the win raised the possibility of playing European football for the first time.
Newcastle United emerged from their slump with a 3-1 home victory over European hopefuls Brighton & Hove Albion coming as a timely boost for manager Eddie Howe.
Sunderland drew 1-1 at relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers -- a match most notable for Sunderland's Dan Ballard being sent off in the 24th minute for pulling the hair of home forward Tolu Arokodare -- the same offence that Everton's Michael Keane saw red for against Wolves in January.
Having seen a 10-point lead evaporate and City knocking them off top spot with victory over Burnley on April 23, Arsenal's hopes of a first title since 2004 had appeared to be receding.
But they have responded in stirring fashion with back-to-back wins and, while City have two games in hand, Arsenal have regained the momentum in the nick of time.
Last weekend's 1-0 home win over Newcastle was a grind, but they blew away 10th-placed Fulham in a dominant first half.
Gyokeres settled any early nerves by tapping in a low cross from Saka in the ninth minute before the hosts struck twice more with halftime approaching.
Saka whipped in a shot that beat former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno at his near post and Swedish striker Gyokeres then headed his second in first-half stoppage time.
Mikel Arteta's side stepped off the gas after the break with one eye on Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg at home against Atletico Madrid but Fulham, who have now never won away at Arsenal in 33 league visits, offered little.
West Ham had the opportunity to really put the squeeze on Tottenham Hotspur in the relegation battle.
Victory at Brentford would have given them a five-point cushion but it was not their day as they hit the woodwork three times in a potentially damaging defeat.
They remained in 17th place, two points above the relegation zone with three games left, but Nuno Espirito Santo's side will drop into it if Tottenham win at Aston Villa on Sunday.
An own goal by Konstantinos Mavropanos after 15 minutes gave Brentford the lead but West Ham responded strongly with Valentin Castellanos twice hitting the woodworkand the unlucky Mavropanos having an equaliser ruled out for offside by VAR.
Brazilian forward Thiago converted from the penalty spot early in the second half -- his 22nd league goal of the season -- to double Brentford's lead and Mikkel Damsgaard rubbed salt into West Ham's wounds after the visitors had again been denied by the woodwork when Crysencio Summerville's shot hit the bar.
"There's so much on the line. We can't let the last few weeks go away because of this result today," West Ham captain Jarrod Bowed said. "On another day we would have got the win today. We've done a lot of good things."
Brentford moved into sixth spot -- a position that would lead to Champions League qualification in the event of Aston Villa winning the Europa League and finishing fifth.
"A lot was made of the magnitude of the game for (West Ham) but this was a huge game for us," Brentford manager Keith Andrews said.
His side have 51 points from 35 games with Brighton on 50 and Bournemouth, who have a game in hand, on 49.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
