Manchester United put the pain of their Champions League exit behind them with a 4-1 Premier League win at home to strugglers Wolves yesterday.
Victory, secured by two goals apiece from Nani and Wayne Rooney, saw the champions close to within two points of leaders Manchester City.
But City – also knocked out of the Champions League in midweek – will restore their five-point advantage at the top if they win away to Chelsea tomorrow night.
Nani gave United a 17th-minute lead at Old Trafford with a low shot from 20 yards out for his first goal in 18 games.
And 10 minutes later before Rooney’s shot through a crowd of players gave the England striker his first league goal in nine games.
Steven Fletcher pulled a goal back for Wolves early in the second half but United restored their two-goal lead after Nani turned in Antonio Valencia’s cross.
Valencia was also the provider when Rooney made it 4-1.
“I always say December is an important month; if we get to the new year still in the frame we have a great chance,” said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Elsewhere, Arsenal marked their 125th anniversary with a 1-0 win at home to Everton thanks to a goal from Robin van Persie.
The Dutch international broke the deadlock at the Emirates with a brilliant left foot volley 20 minutes from time.
“It’s an art Robin has mastered well,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
“We are also grateful for three points against a good Everton side.”
Liverpool beat QPR 1-0 at Anfield thanks to Luis Suarez’s first goal in six games with the Uruguayan heading home two minutes after half-time.
Goalmouth scramble
Norwich held off 10-man Newcastle to win 4-2 at Carrow Road.
Newcastle fell behind when, from a 39th-minute corner, a goalmouth scramble ended with Wes Hoolahan putting the Canaries ahead.
But Newcastle were level before half-time when striker Demba Ba ran on to Yohan Cabaye’s through ball for his 10th goal in as many league games.
Norwich, however, then scored two goals in four minutes with headers from Grant Holt and Steve Morison.
Newcastle, who had Dan Gosling red-carded, made it 3-2 when Ba scored his second but Holt calmed Norwich nerves when he headed in from 12 yards to make the score 4-2.
Wigan climbed off the bottom with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over West Brom.
The Baggies went ahead at the Hawthorns when midfielder Steven Reid curled in a 22-yard free-kick.
But minutes later Victor Moses drew Wigan level with a curling strike from the edge of the box.
Wigan went ahead in the 57th minute when Jordi Gomez scored from the penalty spot after Reid fouled Moses.
Aston Villa took the lead away to struggling Bolton when the unmarked Marc Albrighton turned in a cross from Gabriel Agbonlahor 12 minutes before half-time and more poor defending gave Stiliyan Petrov room for a long-range shot that went in via a deflection off Gary Cahill.
Bolton hit through Ivan Klasnic who scored in the 55th minute but they were unable to find another goal and Owen Coyle’s men are now propping up the table.
Swansea defeated Fulham 2-0 with Scott Sinclair opening the scoring with a 56th-minute strike which was deflected into his own net by Clint Dempsey.
Dempsey had the chance to equalise but his penalty was superbly saved by Michel Vorm.
Swansea substitute Danny Graham then sealed victory on the stroke of full-time.
Tottenham Hotspur, who started the weekend in third place, are away to Stoke today when Sunderland face fellow drop candidates Blackburn Rovers.
Results and standings
Premier League
Arsenal 1
Van Persie 70;
Everton 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 60,062.
Bolton 1
Klasnic 55;
Aston Villa 2
Albrighton 33; Petrov 39;
HT: 0-2. Att: 20,285.
Liverpool 1
Suarez 47;
QPR 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 45,016.
Man. United 4
Nani 17, 56; Rooney 27, 62;
Wolves 1
Fletcher 47;
HT: 2-0. Att: 75,627.
Norwich 4
Hoolahan 39; Holt 59, 82; Morison 63;
Newcastle 2
Ba 45, 71;
HT: 1-1. Att: 26,816.
Red card: Gosling (N) 66.
Swansea 2
Sinclair 56; Graham 90;
Fulham 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 19,296.
Missed penalty: Dempsey (F) 87.
West Brom 1
Reid 33;
Wigan 2
Moses 37; Gomez 57 pen;
HT: 1-1. Att: 25,446.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. City | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 13 | 38 |
| Man. United | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 35 | 14 | 36 |
| Tottenham | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 16 | 31 |
| Arsenal | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 31 | 23 | 29 |
| Chelsea | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 31 | 17 | 28 |
| Liverpool | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 26 |
| Newcastle | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 19 | 26 |
| Aston Villa | 15 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 19 | 19 |
| Norwich | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 28 | 19 |
| Stoke | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 23 | 18 |
| Swansea | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 20 | 17 |
| Everton | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 18 | 16 |
| QPR | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 16 |
| Fulham | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 18 | 15 |
| West Brom | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 23 | 15 |
| Wolves | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 28 | 14 |
| Wigan | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 29 | 12 |
| Sunderland | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 17 | 11 |
| Blackburn | 14 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 21 | 32 | 10 |
| Bolton | 15 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 20 | 36 | 9 |
Today
Stoke-Tottenham (17:00)
Sunderland-Blackburn (14:30)
Tomorrow
Chelsea vs Manchester City (21:00)
Top scorers
15 goals: Van Persie (Arsenal).
11 goals: Aguero (Man. City), Ba (Newcastle), Rooney (Man. United).
10 goals: Dzeko (Man. City).
9 goals: Yakubu (Blackburn).
7 goals: Adebayor (Tottenham), Balotelli (Man. City), Klasnic (Bolton), Sturridge (Chelsea).
Next fixtures
Saturday: Premier League 16.00 Blackburn vs West Brom; Everton vs Norwich; Fulham vs Bolton; Newcastle vs Swansea; Wolves vs Stoke. 18.30 Wigan vs Chelsea.
Sunday: Premier League 13.00 QPR vs Manchester United. 15.05 Aston Villa vs Liverpool. 16.00 Tottenham vs Sunderland. 17.10 Manchester City vs Arsenal.
The Championship
Barnsley 3 - Ipswich 5
Birmingham 2 - Doncaster 1
Burnley 0 - Portsmouth 1
Coventry 0 - Hull 1
Derby 2 - Bristol City 1
Leicester 1 - Peterborough 1
M’Boro 1 - Brighton 0
Millwall 0 - Cardiff 0
N. Forest 0 - C. Palace 1
Reading 3 - West Ham 0
Southampton 2 - Blackpool 2
Watford 1 - Leeds 1
Standings: Southampto 43; West Ham 40; Cardiff, Middlesbrough 38; Hull 36; Leeds 35; Brighton 32; Blackpool 31; Leicester, Reading, Barnsley, C. Palace 30; Birmingham 29; Derby 28; Burnley 27; Portsmouth 26; Peterborough, Watford 25; Millwall, Ipswich 23; Bristol City, Nottm Forest 20; Doncaster 16; Coventry 13.
League One
Brentford 2 - Hartlepool 1
Colchester 4 - Bury 1
Huddersfield 0 - Bournemouth 1
Leyton Orient 3 - Exeter 0
Oldham 0 - Sheffield Wed. 2
Preston 0 - Stevenage 0
Scunthorpe 1 - Carlisle 2
Sheff. United 3 - Rochdale 0
Tranmere 0 - MK Dons 2
Walsall 1 - Charlton 1
Wycombe 3 - Chesterfield 2
Yeovil 1 - Notts County 0
Standings: Charlton 47; Sheffield Wed. 42; MK Dons 39; Huddersfield, Sheffield United 38; Brentford, Carlisle 32; Notts County 31; Stevenage 29; Preston, Bury 27; Colchester, Hartlepool, Bournemouth, Tranmere, Oldham 26; Leyton Orient 22; Exeter 20; Yeovil 19; Scunthorpe 18; Walsall, Rochdale 17; Wycombe 16; Chesterfield 13.
League Two
Wimbledon 0 - Acc. Stanley 2
Aldershot 1 - Shrewsbury 0
Bradford 1 - Plymouth 1
Bristol R. 1 - Swindon 1
Cheltenham 3 - Southend 0
Crawley 3 - Burton 0
Dagenham 1 - Port Vale 2
Hereford 2 - Rotherham 3
Macclesfield 0 - Gillingham 0
Morecambe 0 - Oxford United 0
Northampton 1 - Crewe 1
Standings: Crawley 45; Southend 42; Cheltenham 41; Shrewsbury 37; Burton 35; Swindon 34; Gillingham 32; Morecambe, Torquay 31; Oxford, Rotherham 30; Port Vale 29; Macclesfield, Aldershot, Accrington, Crewe, Wimbledon 26; Bristol Rovers 23; Barnet 19; Northampton, Hereford 17; Bradford 16; Plymouth, Dagenham 13.