Leaders Manchester United beat bottom side Queens Park Rangers 2-0 with a stunning strike from Rafael and a late Ryan Giggs goal to move 15 points clear of champions Manchester City in the English Premier League.

Rafael blasted an unstoppable shot past his fellow Brazilian, goalkeeper Julio Cesar, in the 23rd minute while Giggs, playing in his 999th senior match, made it 2-0 to Alex Ferguson's side 10 minutes from time.

The victory moved United on to 68 points from 27 matches, while City, who have 53 points from 26 games, face third-placed Chelsea at home tomorrow.

Arsenal moved within a point of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who play West Ham United on Monday, and ended their run of two successive home defeats with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa thanks to a double from Santi Cazorla.

Wigan Athletic won 3-0 at fellow strugglers Reading with two goals from Arouna Kone and one by Maynor Figueroa before the hosts had Pavel Pogrebnyak sent off early in the second half for a rash challenge on Figueroa.

Wigan, who now have 24 points, moved out of the relegation zone and above Aston Villa (24) and Reading (23) with basement side QPR adrift on 17.

Dimitar Berbatov struck a superb volley to give Fulham a 1-0 win over Stoke City in an early mid-table clash but the visitors spurned a chance to equalise when John Walters' poorly taken penalty was saved by Mark Schwarzer after 56 minutes.

In the other games, Norwich City got two late goals to beat Everton 2-1 and West Bromwich Albion overcame Sunderland 2-1.