Premier League leaders Manchester United and second-placed champions Manchester City put former English heavyweights Liverpool and Arsenal firmly in their place yesterday.
United sealed a needlessly nervy 2-1 home win over Liverpool to maintain their seven-point lead after Robin van Persie with a goal and Patrice Evra with two assists put rival Luis Suarez in the shade.
In contrast, the game in London was never in doubt with City winning 2-0 for their first league win at Arsenal in 38 years.
City were given a helping hand by the 10th-minute dismissal of Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny for wrestling Edin Dzeko to the ground before James Milner and Dzeko netted before the break.
The first half at Old Trafford, which followed United’s 2-1 win at Liverpool in September, suggested talk of the balance of power should be replaced by whisperings of the huge gulf in class such was the ineptitude of Brendan Rodgers’s side.
Van Persie grabbed a 19th-minute opener when he swept in Evra’s cross in inimitable style.
Uruguay’s Suarez was often jeered by the home crowd in a forgettable performance where nothing went right but he took the sting out of any more vocal taunts by shaking Evra’s hand before kick-off.
The introduction of Daniel Sturridge at half-time for his Premier League debut after joining from Chelsea and the fact they somehow went into the break just 1-0 down, boosted Liverpool’s confidence in the second half.
It was soon dampened when Van Persie’s free-kick was headed goalwards by Evra and the ball deflected off team-mate Vidic before bulging the net. No Liverpool players appealed for offside but replays showed the Serbian was just ahead of their backline.
Sturridge dug Liverpool half out of a hole when he struck after 57 minutes when Gerrard’s piledriver could only be palmed into his path by goalkeeper David De Gea.
Sturridge then missed three decent chances as United boss Alex Ferguson fretted in the dugout.
City were hardly ever in danger at Arsenal and despite the angry response from the famously placid home fans, referee Mike Dean had little choice but to dismiss defender Koscielny for the offending bear hug and award a penalty.
Dzeko’s spot-kick hit goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, rebounded off the post and ran along the line into the Pole’s grateful arms.
Arsenal fans, held up coming into the ground because of a suspect package, could have been forgiven for thinking it might be their day after all but it soon turned into another painful game for a team who have not won a trophy since 2005.
City have usurped Arsenal as continual title challengers and their class against 10 men soon told when Milner rifled in a smart effort.
Arsenal supporters also outraged by the free- kick award sang “1-0 to the referee” but that was disingenuous given the foothold of Roberto Mancini’s side and it was soon 2-0.
Milner whipped in a cross and though the keeper stopped Tevez’s close range effort, Dzeko could not miss.
City’s Vincent Kompany was harshly sent off for a robust challenge with 15 minutes to go but the second half was largely a non-event in the cold, somewhere Liverpool and Arsenal could be for quite some time given United and City’s dominance.
Summaries
Arsenal 0
Man. City 2
Milner 21; Dzeko 32;
HT: 0-2. Att: 60,107.
Red cards: Koscielny (A) 9; Kompany (MC) 75.
Missed penalty: Dzeko (MC) 10.
Man. United 2
Van Persie 19; Vidic 54;
Liverpool 1
Sturridge 57;
HT: 1-0. Att: 75,501.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. United | 22 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 56 | 29 | 55 |
| Man. City | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 43 | 19 | 48 |
| Chelsea | 21 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 43 | 19 | 41 |
| Tottenham | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 39 | 27 | 40 |
| Everton | 22 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 35 | 26 | 37 |
| Arsenal | 21 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 40 | 24 | 34 |
| WBA | 22 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 31 | 30 | 33 |
| Liverpool | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 35 | 28 | 31 |
| Swansea | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 31 | 26 | 30 |
| Stoke | 22 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 21 | 24 | 29 |
| West Ham | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 27 | 26 |
| Norwich | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 24 | 34 | 26 |
| Fulham | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 33 | 38 | 25 |
| Sunderland | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 24 | 29 | 25 |
| Southampton | 21 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 38 | 21 |
| Newcastle | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 27 | 39 | 21 |
| Wigan | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 40 | 19 |
| Aston Villa | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 42 | 19 |
| Reading | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 26 | 42 | 16 |
| QPR | 22 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 36 | 14 |
Next fixtures
Wednesday: Premier League 20.45 Chelsea vs Southampton.
Saturday: 16.00 Liverpool vs Norwich; Manchester City vs Fulham; New-castle vs Reading; Swansea vs Stoke; West Ham United vs QPR; Wigan vs Sunderland. 18.30 West Brom vs Aston Villa.
Sunday: 14.30 Chelsea vs Arsenal. 17.00 Tottenham vs Man. United.
Monday, Jan. 21: 21.00 Southampton vs Everton.
League One
Carlisle 1 - Coventry 0
Preston 1 - Walsall 3