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Alan Curbishley suffered through 90 minutes of hell on Saturday afternoon as he watched his West Ham side subjected to a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of former club Charlton. The thrashing got underway after only 24 minutes when Marcus Bent's cross was turned into the net by the unmarked Darren Ambrose. Curbishley's men were struggling to get into the match and, ten minutes later, things went from bad to worse as a neat run from Jerome Thomas finished with the young midfielder firing a neat left-footed shot low into the corner. Not content though, Charlton raced on and added a third three minutes before half time as Bent glided through West Ham's offside trap and slotted past Robert Green with ease.The half-time scoreline would have brought back memories of the Hammers' 6-0 thrashing at Reading over Christmas and Curbishley's team-talk seemed to be short and, presumably, not so sweet as the visitors were out for the second period well before their opponents. Sadly for them, though, it had no real effect as the hosts continued to have the better of the game, hitting the post through Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, before adding the fourth and final goal through Thomas' second. West Ham's hopes of survival are now looking slim.

No such troubles for Liverpool though as they also won 4-0, this time against Sheffield United, thanks in no small part to two first half penalties. The first came after twenty minutes when Rob Kozluck was adjudged to have brought down Steven Gerrard in the box. Referee Steve Bennett wasted no time in pointing to the spot and Kop hero Robbie Fowler made no mistake. Five minutes later history repeated itself as the imperious Gerrard was once again brought down, with Nick Montgomery this time the guilty party. Once again Fowler stepped up and once again Fowler found the net.

This was not Sheffield United at their doggedly determined best and Liverpool dominated throughout, despite their trip to Spain in mid-week. It was no real surprise then when two goals in quick succession mid-way through the second half made it 4-0. First, Sami Hyypia latched onto Jermaine Pennant's corner to beat Paddy Kenny at his near post, before Gerrard capped a superb performance with a trademark thunderbolt, handing Rafa Benitez's side a useful four point lead over the otherwise engaged Arsenal in the race for third place.

Manchester United also took advantage of Sunday's Carling Cup final by extending their lead at the top of the league to nine points thanks to a slender 2-1 victory at Fulham. This was not a vintage performance from Sir Alex Ferguson's men and, indeed, the hosts went ahead after seventeen minutes when Brian McBride took advantage of some poor defending from Edwin van der Saar and Nemanja Vidic to hit home off the post. The lead didn't last long though as just eleven minutes later, United were level when Ryan Giggs' thunderous volley found the back of the net.

Rio Ferdinand was lucky to stay on the pitch in the build-up to half-time after being shown only a yellow card for grappling with Tomas Radzinski. But Fulham's dominance continued after the interval as they forced some great saves from van der Saar and hit the crossbar through Radzinski's header from a Michael Brown cross. It was heartbreaking for the home fans then when a deflected effort from Cristiano Ronaldo found the net with only two minutes to go, leaving United in control at the top, despite a below-par showing.

In the evening kick-off, Everton cruised past Watford with a simple 3-0 victory. Manuel Fernandes opened the scoring with his first goal in Everton colours on 23 minutes after Richard Lee fumbled Tim Cahill's initial shot. The defence was also at fault a minute later as Andy Johnson won a penalty after being brought down by Jay DeMerit and Adrian Mariappa. Johnson converted from the spot, killing the game off as a competition before Leon Osman added the third with a 25-yard cracker in injury-time.

Finally, Middlesbrough warmed up for their tricky FA Cup replay next week with a confident 2-1 victory over Reading, who will also be engaged in mid-week Cup action. Mark Viduka scored the first after seven minutes with a cheeky, well executed back heel from Emmanuel Pogatetz's header. Reading stayed in an always entertaining match until mid-way through the second half when Yakubu latched onto Viduka's well-judged pass and smashed into the top corner. John Oster reduced the deficit in the final minute, making injury time very tense indeed for the hosts, but they had done enough to survive.