Coventry have waited until the last day of the season to beat the drop nine times in the past and they gave themselves a chance of a repeat with a well-deserved 31 win at Leicester on Saturday.
Craig Bellamy scored the fastest goal of the day in the Premiership when he finished off a cross from Mustapha Hadji and although Peter Taylor's Leicester levelled when Dele Akinbiyi slotted home a rebound they regained the advantage through Lee Carsley after 19 minutes.
Coventry ensured the vital points when John Hartson outjumped the Leicester defence to net his second in successive matches and hand Leicester a fourth defeat on the trot.
Leeds United moved into third spot in the table with a glittering performance against Southampton.
Harry Kewell hammered a terrific left-footed drive from 25 yards to give Leeds the lead but despite their domination it was the middle of the second half before they made it 2-0.
Robbie Keane ran on to a clever pass from Ian Harte, beat the offside trap and lobbed the ball over Paul Jones and Southampton left Elland Road without scoring for the seventh time in eight visits.
Chelsea won away from home for only the second time this season as they ended Derby's run of seven games undefeated at Pride Park.
Gianfranco Zola slotted home in the 64th minute, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink seized on a pass by Gustavo Poyet to bag his 20th of the season before the roof fell in on derby late on.
Poyet netted after a corner and then glanced home a cross from Celestine Babayaro to make it 4-0.
West Ham ended a run of four defeats on the bounce with a 2-2 draw at Villa Park.
Frederic Kanoute scored their first goal in over seven hours of Premiership football from a Frank Lampard pass but David Ginola equalised with a brilliant free-kick from the edge of the penalty area and Lee Hendrie converted a cross at the far post. Three minutes from time Lampard slammed home the rebound when Igor Stimac hit the post from a Stuart Pearce free-kick.
Meanwhile, in Division One runaway leaders Fulham failed to score for only the sixth time this season when they were held 0-0 at home by promotion hopefuls West Bromwich while Blackburn cemented their position in second spot with a 3-1 win which anchors Queen's Park Rangers in the bottom three.
