Manchester United re-established their six-point advantage at the top of the Premier League by sweeping Sunderland aside 3-1 at Old Trafford yesterday.
Manchester City had trimmed United’s lead to three points by winning at Newcastle earlier in the day, but Alex Ferguson’s men reasserted their authority with a convincing display against the Black Cats.
Robin van Persie broke the deadlock in the 16th minute, deftly guiding a shot into the top-left corner after an enterprising run down the left flank from Ashley Young.
Tom Cleverley’s fine finish, following a one-two with Michael Carrick, made it 2-0 three minutes later, before Van Persie teed up strike partner Wayne Rooney for United’s third just before the hour.
United captain Nemanja Vidic made his return following a long-term knee injury as a second-half substitute and even a 72nd-minute header by Sunderland’s former United striker Fraizer Campbell could not spoil the hosts’ day.
“For an hour, we were fantastic,” United manager Ferguson said.
“Some of our football was very good and we could have scored lots of goals. But I don’t know what happened after that because Sunderland could have had two or three towards the end. It could have been embarrassing.”
Defending champions City had returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory at Newcastle.
Beaten 3-2 by their cross-town rivals in a fiery Manchester derby last weekend, the champions showed no ill-effects in the early stages at St James’ Park and took the lead in the 10th minute with a beautifully crafted goal.
Stand-in captain Yaya Toure split the home defence with a delicately weighted pass down the inside-right channel and Samir Nasri showed excellent awareness to roll the ball square for Sergio Aguero to tap into an empty net.
Javi Garcia claimed City’s second in the 39th minute with a header from a left-wing corner, although Newcastle full-back Davide Santon made a complete hash of his attempt to clear the ball.
Newcastle hit back six minutes into the second half, Demba Ba beating City goalkeeper Joe Hart to Fabio Coloccini’s hooked cross to head home, but Toure touched in Pablo Zabaleta’s 78th-minute centre to make the points safe.
“The performance against (Manchester) United was fantastic,” said City manager Roberto Mancini.
“We were disappointed by the result but today was difficult because after the defeat against Manchester United, we needed to restart quickly.
“We had a very difficult game against Newcastle but I think the guys today were really, really good.
“It could have been six or seven – I don’t know how many chances we missed.”
Queens Park Rangers ended their long wait for victory at the 17th attempt, winning 2-1 at home to Fulham to climb off the foot of the table at the expense of Reading.
Adel Taarabt’s deflected shot broke the deadlock seven minutes after half-time and the mercurial Moroccan then scored a superb second goal in the 68th minute, before Mladen Petric replied for Fulham.
Liverpool were brought down to earth in a 3-1 loss at home to Aston Villa.
The Reds were gunning for a third straight win in the league but Belgian striker Christian Benteke scored twice and set up a goal for Andreas Weimann to lift Paul Lambert’s side three points clear of the bottom three.
Steven Gerrard claimed a consolation for the hosts.
Everton remain fourth after drawing 1-1 at Stoke City.
Results and standings
Premier League
Liverpool 1
Gerrard 87;
Aston Villa 3
Benteke 29, 51; Weimann 40;
HT: 0-2. Att: 44,607.
Man United 3
Van Persie 16; Cleverley 19; Rooney 59;
Sunderland 1
Campbell 72;
HT: 2-0. Att: 75,582.
Newcastle 1
Ba 51;
Man. City 3
Aguero 10; Garcia 39; Yaya Toure 78;
HT: 0-2. Att: 49,579.
Norwich 2
Pilkington 15; Hoolaholan 64;
Wigan 1
Maloney 51;
HT: 1-0. Att: 26,677.
QPR 2
Taarabt 52, 68;
Fulham 1
Petric 88;
HT: 0-0. Att: 18,233.
Stoke City 1
Jones 52;
Everton 1
Shawcross 36 og;
HT: 0-1. Att: 27,008.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man United | 17 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 24 | 42 |
| Man City | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 33 | 15 | 36 |
| Chelsea | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 17 | 29 |
| Everton | 17 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 28 | 21 | 27 |
| Tottenham | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 29 | 25 | 26 |
| WBA | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 24 | 21 | 26 |
| Norwich | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 25 | 25 |
| Arsenal | 16 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 16 | 24 |
| Stoke City | 17 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 24 |
| Swansea | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 26 | 21 | 23 |
| West Ham | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 20 | 22 |
| Liverpool | 17 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 23 | 22 |
| Fulham | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 28 | 29 | 20 |
| Aston Villa | 17 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 24 | 18 |
| Newcastle | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 26 | 17 |
| Sunderland | 17 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 24 | 16 |
| Southampton | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 22 | 32 | 15 |
| Wigan | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 32 | 15 |
| QPR | 17 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 30 | 10 |
| Reading | 16 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 31 | 9 |
Playing today
Tottenham vs Swansea - 14:30
West Brom vs West Ham - 17:00
Tomorrow
Reading vs Arsenal - 21:00
Top scorers
12 goals: Michu (Swansea).
11 goals: Van Persie (Man United).
10 goals: Ba (Newcastle), Suarez (Liverpool).
9 goals: Defoe (Tottenham).
Next fixtures
Wednesday: League Cup QF – 20.45 Leeds vs Chelsea.
Saturday: Premier League – 13.45 Wigan vs Arsenal; Man City vs Reading; Southampton vs Sunderland; Tottenham vs Stoke; West Brom vs Norwich; West Ham vs Everton. 18.30 Liverpool vs Fulham.
Sunday: Premier League – 14.30 Swansea vs Man United; 17.00 Chelsea vs Aston Villa.
The Championship
Barnsley 0 - Sheffield Wed 1
Birmingham 2 - Crystal Palace 2
Blackpool 2 - Blackburn 0
Bolton 2 - Charlton 0
Brighton 0 - Nottm Forest 0
Bristol City 0 - Derby 2
Burnley 1 - Watford 1
Cardiff 1 - Peterborough 2
Hull 2 - Huddersfield 0
Leeds 2 - Ipswich 0
M’brough 2 - Wolves 0
Millwall 1 - Leicester 0
Standings: Cardiff 44; C. Palace 42; M’boro, Hull 41; Leicester 37; Millwall 36; Watford 34; Brighton, Nottm Forest, Derby 33; Blackpool, Leeds 32; Bolton, Charlton, Blackburn, Burnley, Huddersfield 29; Wolves 28; Birmingham 25; Ipswich 23; Bristol City, Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday 18; Peterborough 16.
League One
B’rnemouth 1 - Colchester 0
Crewe 1 - Bury 0
Doncaster 1 - Coventry 4
L. Orient 1 - Scunthorpe 3
MK Dons 1 - Hartlepool 0
Notts County 1 - Brentford 2
Oldham 0 - Swindon 2
Portsmouth 0 - Preston 0
Sheff. Utd 0 - Tranmere 0
Shrewsbury 2 - Carlisle 1
Stevenage 1 - Crawley 2
Walsall 2 - Yeovil 2
Standings: Tranmere, Brentford 41; Sheffield Utd, Doncaster 40; MK Dons 39; Stevenage 37; Swindon 36; Notts Country, Bournemouth, Crawley 35; Crewe 33; L. Orient 31; Coventry, Yeovil 30; Preston 29; Oldham 26; Colchester, Walsall, Carlisle 23; Shrewsbury 22; Portsmouth 21; Scunthorpe 20; Bury 19; Hartlepool 9.
League Two
Accrington 0 - Wycombe 2
Wimbledon 0 - Rotherham 1
Aldershot 4 - Rochdale 2
Cheltenham 1 - Port Vale 1
Chesterfield 1 - Burton 1
Dagenham 1 - Barnet 0
Exeter 1 - Plymouth 1
Gillingham 2 - Fleetwood 2
Morecambe 1 - Oxford 1
Southend 2 - Bradford 2
Torquay 1 - Northampton 1
York 4 - Bristol Rovers 1
Standings: Gillingham 45; Port Vale 40; Cheltenham 39; Rotherham 37; Brad-ford 36; Southend, Exeter 34; Fleet-wood, Burton 33; Chesterfield, Torquay 32; Dagenham 31; Northampton, York, Rochdale 30; Morecambe 27; Wycombe, Oxford, Accrington 26; Plymouth 22; Aldershot 21; Wimbledon 19; Bristol Rovers 18; Barnet 16.