Manchester City ground out a 1-0 win over struggling Crystal Palace to go top of the Premier League and champions Manchester United continued their recent revival with a 1-0 victory at Norwich City yesterday.
With leaders Arsenal not playing until this afternoon, Edin Dzeko’s 66th-minute goal earned the points for City who maintained their perfect home record this season but showed none of their usual free-scoring swagger at the Etihad Stadium.
“I think the team that wants to win the title must have different faces,” City manager Manuel Pellegrini told the BBC.
“We usually score lots of goals at home, but after 45 minutes we knew it would not be like that.”
Hull City hammered relegation-threatened Fulham 6-0, Aston Villa struggled again in a 1-1 home draw with fellow mid-table team Swansea and West Ham were held 3-3 by drop zone rivals West Brom in a thriller at Upton Park.
Managerless Cardiff were denied victory by bottom team Sunderland for whom Jack Colback scored in stoppage time for a 2-2 draw in the late kick-off.
Pellegrini made six changes to the side that overcame Liverpool 2-1 on Thursday, while Tony Pulis selected the same Palace team that started their 1-0 win at Villa on the same afternoon.
Palace unexpectedly took the game to City and it needed a string of saves from England goalkeeper Joe Hart, who suffered a gashed face in a first-half clash with striker Jerome Cameron, to prevent a shock result.
Pellegrini made a double substitution, bringing on French forward Samir Nasri and Spanish striker Alvaro Negredo shortly before Dzeko struck.
Jesus Navas made room and crossed from the right for Bosnian Dzeko to turn and shoot into the roof of the net from 15 metres.
Man. United struggled initially at Norwich, surviving a first-half onslaught before taking control.
Manager David Moyes made five changes to the side that won 3-2 at Hull, leaving striker Wayne Rooney out of the squad completely, but substitute Danny Welbeck’s 57th-minute strike registered their 21st away goal in the league this season.
United climbed to sixth behind City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton while Hull’s battering of Fulham took them to 10th and earned midfielder Tom Huddlestone an appointment with his barber.
The former Tottenham and England player drove in Hull’s fourth goal and his first for the club, an achievement he had said would result in the trimming of his plentiful locks and a pair of scissors were duly brandished on the touchline in celebration.
On a triumphant day for Steve Bruce’s Hull, midfielder Robert Koren struck twice after Ahmed Elmohamady had opened the scoring. George Boyd and Matty Fryatt also found the net to inflict Fulham’s heaviest defeat in the top tier since 1968.
“I’m shocked. I don’t know if there was something in the tea – I did not see that coming,” Fulham manager Rene Meulensteen said.
A similar home triumph seemed likely when Gabriel Agbonlahor put Aston Villa ahead early on, but Roland Lamah headed Swansea level after 36 minutes.
The draw meant Villa avoided a fifth consecutive defeat and eased the pressure on boss Paul Lambert.
Earlier, Joe Cole shot West Ham ahead inside five minutes before two well-taken goals from Nicolas Anelka, his first in the Premier League since August, put West Brom in charge before the interval.
Modibo Maiga fired the Hammers level and helped set up Kevin Nolan to volley them in front at 3-2 but they held the lead for only two minutes before Saido Berahino completed the scoring.
Premier League results
Aston Villa 1
Agbonlahor 7;
Swansea City 1
Lamah 36;
HT: 1-1. Att: 37,028.
Cardiff City 2
Mutch 6; Campbell 58;
Sunderland 2
Fletcher 83; Colback 90;
HT: 1-0. Att: 27,247.
Hull City 6
Elmohamady 49; Koren 60, 84; Boyd 63; Huddlestone 67; Fryatt 75;
Fulham 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 23,925.
Man. City 1
Dzeko 66;
Crystal Palace 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 47,107.
Norwich City 0
Man. United 1
Welbeck 57;
HT: 0-0. Att: 26,851.
West Ham 3
J. Cole 4; Maiga 65; Nolan 67;
West Brom 3
Anelka 40, 45; Berahino 69;
HT: 1-2. Att: 34,946.
Playing today
Chelsea vs Liverpool - 17.00
Everton vs Southampton - 14.30
Newcastle vs Arsenal - 14.30
Tottenham vs Stoke City - 17.00
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. City | 19 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 54 | 21 | 41 |
| Arsenal | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 36 | 18 | 39 |
| Chelsea | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 18 | 37 |
| Liverpool | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 43 | 21 | 36 |
| Everton | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 29 | 17 | 34 |
| Man. United | 19 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 22 | 34 |
| Newcastle | 18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 23 | 33 |
| Tottenham | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 31 |
| Southampton | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 18 | 27 |
| Hull City | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| Swansea City | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 25 | 21 |
| Stoke City | 18 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 26 | 21 |
| Aston Villa | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 25 | 20 |
| Norwich City | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 32 | 19 |
| West Brom | 19 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 27 | 18 |
| Cardiff City | 19 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 30 | 18 |
| C. Palace | 19 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 28 | 16 |
| Fulham | 19 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 19 | 41 | 16 |
| West Ham | 19 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 15 |
| Sunderland | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 14 |
Wednesday’s fixtures
13.45 Swansea vs Man. City.
16.00 Arsenal vs Cardiff; C. Palace vs Norwich; Fulham vs West Ham; Liver-pool vs Hull; Southampton vs Chelsea; Stoke vs Everton; Sunderland vs Aston Villa; WBA vs Newcastle.
18.30 Man. United vs Tottenham.
Top scorers
19 goals: Suarez (Liverpool).
13 goals: Aguero (Man. City).
10 goals: Remy (Newcastle).
9 goals: Sturridge (Liverpool), Toure (Man. City), Rooney (Man. United).
The Championship
Playing today (16.00)
Barnsley vs Derby
Blackburn vs Birmingham
Blackpool vs Brighton
Bournemouth vs Ipswich
Charlton vs Sheffield Wed.
Doncaster vs Millwall
Huddersfield vs Yeovil
Leicester vs Bolton
Middlesbrough vs Reading
Nottm Forest vs Leeds
Watford vs QPR
Wigan vs Burnley
Standings: Leicester City 45; Burnley 43; QPR 42; Derby County 41; Nottingham Forest 36; Leeds United 35; Ipswich Town, Reading 34; Brighton, Blackpool 32; Blackburn Rovers 31; Watford, Wigan 29; Huddersfield, Bournemouth 28; Middlesbrough, Bolton 26; Birmingham City 25; Charlton Athletic 22; Millwall 21; Doncaster 20; Sheffield Wednesday 18; Yeovil 17; Barnsley 16.
League One
Playing today (16.00)
Bradford vs Swindon
Brentford vs MK Dons
Bristol City vs Stevenage
Carlisle vs Peterborough
Colchester vs Crewe
Coventry vs Oldham
Crawley vs Notts County
Gillingham vs Walsall
Port Vale vs Rotherham
Sheffield Utd vs Tranmere
Shrewsbury vs Preston
Wolves vs Leyton Orient
Standings: L. Orient, Wolves 47; Brentford 46; Preston 41; Peterborough 39; Rotherham 38; Swindon, Walsall, Port Vale 33; MK Dons 31; Bradford 30; Coventry 28; Colchester United 27; Crawley 26; Gillingham 25; Carlisle 24; Shrewsbury, Oldham, Tranmere 23; Sheffield Utd 22; Bristol City, Stevenage 19; Notts County, Crewe 18.
League Two
Playing today (16.00)
Accrington vs Southend
Wimbledon vs Plymouth
Burton vs Newport
Bury vs York
Cheltenham vs Mansfield
Chesterfield vs Dagenham
Morecambe vs Hartlepool
Oxford vs Scunthorpe
Portsmouth vs Northampton
Rochdale vs Bristol Rovers
Torquay vs Exeter
Wycombe vs Fleetwood
Standings: Chesterfield 40; Oxford, Scunthorpe, Burton 38; Newport, Southend, Rochdale 37; Fleetwood, Morecambe 35; Cheltenham 33; Dagenham 30; Exeter, Plymouth 29; Hartlepool 28; Wycombe, Wimbledon 27; Portsmouth 25; Accrington 24; Bristol Rovers 23; York, Mansfield, Torquay 22; Bury 21; Northampton 18.