Edin Dzeko shone to give 10-man Manchester City a battling 4-3 victory at Norwich City but leaders Manchester United also won as own goals and more controversial refereeing marked the last Saturday of 2012.
In another bumper day for Premier League goals, resurgent Arsenal went fifth after a thrilling 7-3 home win over Newcastle United with contract rebel Theo Walcott scoring a hat-trick.
Manchester United maintained their seven-point advantage over City at the top after Gareth McAuley turned the ball into his own net and substitute Robin van Persie netted in a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at a sodden Old Trafford.
“(Van Persie) changed the game for us,” United boss Alex Ferguson said. “When I brought him and Paul Scholes on they settled the game down for us. West Brom dominated in the second half and kept pumping the ball into our box.
“We’re in a good position. We’re halfway there.”
City striker Dzeko scored twice in the first five minutes and another of his strikes was credited as an own goal by goalkeeper Mark Bunn at Norwich where Samir Nasri’s 44th-minute red card had threatened the champions’ dominance.
Tottenham moved third following a 2-1 comeback win at Sunderland where an apoplectic Gareth Bale was again booked for diving while fourth-bottom Aston Villa lost their third in a row in a 3-0 home defeat by Wigan.
Paul Lambert’s Villa have conceded 15 in the three games and scored none.
Arsenal opened the scoring against leaky Newcastle through Walcott – again playing as a striker – when he escaped the offside trap and finished with aplomb in the style of boyhood hero and mentor Thierry Henry, who was watching from the stands.
Demba Ba’s deflected free kick just before the interval gave the visitors hope but an excellent finish from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a close-range header from Lukas Podolski after Sylvain Marveaux’s leveller looked to have secured the points.
Ba then grabbed another equaliser but Walcott expertly found the top corner after 73 minutes and substitute Olivier Giroud bagged a double late on. A persistent Walcott then took the matchball to show he is not just a winger.
Ten-man Stoke City were facing a first home loss since February but a superb late Cameron Jerome strike secured a 3-3 draw with struggling Southampton and Reading pulled themselves away from last spot with a 1-0 home win over West Ham United.
Swansea City shrugged off the injury absence of top scorer Michu to triumph 2-1 at Fulham where stand-in striker Danny Graham grabbed the opener.
Leaders United started with Van Persie on the bench and had Wayne Rooney out injured for a West Brom game that was nearly called off before kick-off because of heavy rain in Manchester.
Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa made his comeback from injury but it was another returnee, winger Ashley Young, who provided the cross for McAuley to inadvertently deflect into his own goal after nine minutes.
Alex Ferguson’s side have been consistently shipping goals but they just about held on to a clean sheet before Van Persie eased fan nerves in the last minute.
After 20 of 38 games, United have 49 points to City’s 42 but Roberto Mancini will be glad his champions did not slip further behind after playing with 10 men for over a half at Norwich.
Bosnian forward Dzeko made a stunning start for City but Anthony Pilkington’s 15th-minute goal and Nasri’s debatable sending off left the game in the balance.
Nasri saw red for going head-to-head with Sebastien Bassong but the dismissal seemed harsh.
Sergio Aguero then gave City breathing space after 50 minutes before a Dzeko strike came back off the post and hit Bunn on its way into the net, in between Russell Martin’s brace.
Results and standings
Premier League
Arsenal 7
Walcott 20, 73, 90; Chamberlain 51; Podolski 64; Giroud 85, 87;
Newcastle 3
Ba 43, 69; Marveaux 59;
HT: 1-1. Att: 60,000.
Aston Villa 0
Wigan 3
Ramis 3; Boyce 52; Kone 56;
HT: 0-1. Att: 33,374.
Fulham 1
Ruiz 56;
Swansea 2
Graham 19; Guzman 52;
HT: 0-1. Att: 25,700.
Man. United 2
McAuley 9 og; Van Persie 90;
West Brom 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 75,595.
Norwich 3
Pilkington 15; Martin 63, 75;
Man. City 4
Dzeko 2, 5; Aguero 50; Bunn 67 og;
HT: 1-2. Att: 26,827.
Red card: Nasri (MC) 44.
Reading 1
Pogrebnyak 5;
West Ham 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 24,000.
Stoke City 3
Jones 16; Upson 67; Jerome 90;
Southampton 3
Lambert 10; Rodriguez 24; Wilkinson 36 og;
HT: 1-3. Att: 26,391.
Sunderland 1
O’Shea 40;
Tottenham 2
Cuellar 48 og; Lennon 51;
HT: 1-0. Att: 41,168.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. United | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 50 | 28 | 49 |
| Man. City | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 38 | 19 | 42 |
| Tottenham | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 26 | 36 |
| Chelsea | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 17 | 35 |
| Arsenal | 19 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 39 | 21 | 33 |
| Everton | 19 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 32 | 23 | 33 |
| WBA | 20 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 25 | 33 |
| Stoke | 20 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 21 | 17 | 29 |
| Swansea | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 29 | 24 | 28 |
| Liverpool | 19 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 28 | 26 | 25 |
| Norwich | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 23 | 32 | 25 |
| West Ham | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| Sunderland | 20 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 26 | 22 |
| Fulham | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 30 | 36 | 21 |
| Newcastle | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 37 | 20 |
| Wigan | 20 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 22 | 35 | 18 |
| Aston Villa | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 39 | 18 |
| Southampton | 19 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 37 | 17 |
| Reading | 20 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 22 | 37 | 13 |
| QPR | 19 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 33 | 10 |
Playing today
Everton vs Chelsea - 14.30
QPR-Liverpool - 17.00
Top scorers
14 goals: Van Persie (Man. United).
13 goals: Michu (Swansea), Ba (Newcastle).
11 goals: Suarez (Liverpool).
10 goals: Defoe (Tottenham).
9 goals: Bale (Tottenham).
8 goals: Dzeko (Man. City).
Next fixtures
Tuesday: 13.45 West Brom vs Fulham. 16.00 Manchester City vs Stoke; Swansea vs Aston Villa; Tottenham vs Reading; West Ham vs Norwich; Wigan vs Manchester United. 18.30 Southampton vs Arsenal.
Wednesday: 20.45 Chelsea vs QPR; Liverpool vs Sunderland. 21.00 Newcastle vs Everton.
The Championship
Barnsley 1 - Blackburn 3
Bolton 3 - Birmingham 1
Brighton 1 - Watford 3
Bristol City 4 - Peterborough 2
Burnley 0 - Leicester 1
Cardiff 1 - Millwall 0
Charlton 1 - Derby 1
H’dersfield 0 - Sheff. Wed. 0
Hull City 2 - Leeds United 0
Middlesbrough 4 - Blackpool 2
N. Forest 2 - Crystal Palace 2
Wolves 0 - Ipswich 2
Standings: Cardiff 53; Hull 48; M’boro 47; C. Palace 44; Leicester 41; Watford 40; N. Forest, Millwall 37; Leeds 35; Brighton, Derby 34; Blackpool, Burnley 33; Bolton, Blackburn, Huddersfield 32; Wolves 31; Charlton, Ipswich 30; Birmingham 29; Sheffield Wed. 25; Bristol City, Peterborough 22; Barnsley 21.
League One
Bournemouth 3 - Crawley 0
Carlisle 2 - Bury 1
Colchester p - Swindon p
Leyton Orient 2 - Walsall 1
MK Dons 2 - Coventry 3
Oldham 1 - Crewe 2
Portsmouth 1 - Yeovil 2
Preston 0 - Doncaster 3
Sheffield Utd 2 - Hartlepool 3
Shrewsbury 0 - Brentford 0
Stevenage p - Notts County p
Tranmere 1 - Scunthorpe 0
Standings: Tranmere 47; Sheffield United, Doncaster 46; Brentford 45; Bournemouth 41; Swindon, MK Dons 39; Crawley 38; Coventry, Stevenage 37; Notts County, Yeovil, Crewe 36; Leyton Orient 34; Preston 31; Walsall, Carlisle 29; Oldham 26; Shrewsbury 25; Colchester 23; Portsmouth, Bury 21; Scunthorpe 20; Hartlepool 12.
League Two
Wimbledon 0 - Oxford 3
Aldershot p - Torquay p
Bradford City 2 - Rochdale 4
Burton 2 - Southend 0
Cheltenham p - Bristol Rovers p
Chesterfield 1 - Morecambe 1
Dagenham 2 - Port Vale 3
Exeter City 2 - Barnet 2
Fleetwood 0 - York City 0
Gillingham p - Northampton p
Plymouth 0 - Wycombe 1
Rotherham 4 - Accrington 1
Standings: Port Vale 46; Gillingham 45; Cheltenham 42; Southend United, Rotherham 40; Bradford City, Burton Albion 39; Fleetwood 37; Chesterfield, Rochdale 36; Exeter 35; Northampton Town, Torquay 33; Oxford 32; Dagenham and Redbridge, York 31; Wycombe Wanderers 29; Morecambe 28; Accrington Stanley 27; Plymouth Argyle 24; Barnet 23; Aldershot 22; Bristol Rovers, AFC Wimbledon 19.