Ashley Young and John Carew bagged a brace as Aston Villa earned local bragging rights with a thumping 5-1 win over Birmingham at Villa Park to move to within three points of Everton in the race to qualify for the UEFA Cup.
Martin O'Neill's free-scoring side - who have now netted 15 goals in their last three games - were simply too good for their neighbours, who remain stranded in the bottom three, one point adrift of 17th-placed Reading.
Villa's early pressure paid off when Young wrapped his foot around the ball to bury an 18-yard volley beyond Maik Taylor after 28 minutes.
Villa then extended their lead three minutes before the interval when Young's free-kick picked out Carew and the beanpole Norwegian flicked a header past Taylor.
And Carew did not have long to wait for his second when Gareth Barry got on the wrong side of Liam Ridgewell and crossed for the striker to tap home from six yards after 53 minutes.
And with Blues pushing forward, Young also claimed his second of the game after 63 minutes, following up after Taylor had saved his with legs to fire home from eight yards after the diminutive forward had cut in from the touchline.
Birmingham did get themselves on the scoresheet three minutes later when James McFadden played in Mikael Forssell and the Finn slotted home.
However, any hopes of a comeback were extinguished when Gabriel Agbonlahor made the most of hesitant defending to fire low past Taylor in the 78th minute to keep Villa in the hunt for Europe.
But Portsmouth's hopes of making fifth took a blow as Manchester City took some of the heat off under-pressure manager Sven-Goran Eriksson with a 3-1 win at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Inspired by the powerful Benjani Mwaruwari, City took full advantage of an off-day for the Portsmouth defence to move to within six points of Everton.
Benjani scored the third to seal victory and end Portsmouth's hopes of a comeback. Darius Vassell had opened the scoring after a bad mix-up between David James and Sol Campbell, Martin Petrov made it 2-0 before John Utaka's goal gave the visitors hope again.
But after Hermann Hreidarsson's controversial dismissal, Portsmouth were up against it and after some bad luck - they hit both posts - Benjani ended the contest.
Elsewhere, at St James' Park, Michael Owen demonstrated exactly why Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan is so desperate for him to sign a new contract by claiming a derby-day double to increase Sunderland's woes as the Magpies ran out 2-0 winners.
The 28-year-old headed the Magpies into a fourth-minute lead and then made it six goals in as many games in the final minute of the first half from the penalty spot.
The win maintained Keegan's 100 per cent against the Black Cats, which now stretches to five games, on a day when his mission to keep the club in the Barclays Premier League was successfully completed.
By contrast, Roy Keane's side face a tense conclusion to the season with just five points separating them from the relegation zone with three games remaining.
Newcastle's greater quality in the final third ultimately won the day and extended their unbeaten run to six games in front of a largely delighted crowd of 52,305.
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