In the Championship's early kickoff at Turf Moor, Burnley ground out an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Leeds United after taking a first-minute lead.
It gave the leaders a brief four-point advantage over closest pursuers Middlesbrough who then responded by bringing the gap back to one point with an equally hard-earned 1-0 home win over Preston North End.
At the other end of the table Bolton Wanderers, whose safety was secured by a recent takeover, were relegated to League One after being hammered 4-1 at Derby County who boosted their own promotion hopes.
Burnley were indebted to a goal from Scott Arfield who struck with the first shot of the match, low and hard into the far corner of the net after a lay-off from Andre Gray.
It was far from plain sailing though for Burnley as the visitors hit back strongly and, in the second half, came perilously close to scoring twice with headers from Chris Wood.
Sean Dyche's side, relegated from the top flight last season, were relieved to hold on and stretch their unbeaten league run to 18 games.
Middlesbrough stayed second after Albert Adomah's first-half strike sank stubborn Preston, their fourth straight victory.
Burnley have 80 points from 41 matches but Middlesbrough can leapfrog them to lead by two points if they win their game in hand.
Brighton and Hove Albion, who are four points behind Middlesbrough with a game in hand, visit Nottingham Forest on Monday.
Bolton, who have not won away all season, were finally put out of their misery after a tumultuous season, being plunged into the third tier for the first time since 1992-93 with their 23rd defeat of the campaign.
Derby, who scored through a Johnny Russell double, Tom Ince and Jacob Butterfield, have 70 points in the playoff zone alongside fourth-placed Hull City who were held to a 2-2 draw at Huddersfield Town.
The teams in third, fourth, fifth and sixth position go through to the playoffs. The eventual winners also go up to the Premier League.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
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