Manchester
United extended their lead at the Premier League summit to seven points
after a thrilling 4-3 victory over Newcastle at Old Trafford.
Javier Hernandez struck a 91st-minute half-volley to snatch all three points after second-half goals from Patrice Evra and Robin van Persie twice pulled the Red Devils level, sandwiching a fine finish from Papiss Cisse.
James
Perch's fifth-minute opener for Newcastle, scored following poor
keeping from David de Gea, was cancelled out when Jonny Evans stabbed
home from close range.
Confusion shrouded
Newcastle's second, which was initially disallowed for offside against
Cisse after Evans had directed the ball into his own net. But having
ruled out the goal, referee Mike Dean overturned his own decision after
consulting the linesman as Cisse had not connected with the ball.
Champions Manchester City slipped back in the title race after losing 1-0 at Sunderland.
Adam Johnson
was on target against his former club, helped by a weak save from Joe
Hart, who was overshadowed by the heroics of Simon Mignolet in
Sunderland's goal.
Chelsea capitalised on the ground lost by City by dispatching Norwich 1-0 at Carrow Road thanks to a superb finish from Juan Mata with Oscar supplying the ammunition. The Blues, in third place, now trail City by just four points.
QPR
slipped to the second defeat of Harry Redknapp's reign with their 2-1
loss to West Brom dumping them at the foot of the table. Chris Brunt was
on target from 30 yards with a first-time shot to nudge the Baggies
ahead in a delayed kick-off at Loftus Road before keeper Rob Green
tipped the ball into his own net while under pressure from Marc-Antoine
Fortune.
Stephane Mbia set up Djibril Cisse
as QPR pulled one back and they should have had an injury-time penalty
when Liam Ridgewell handled the ball as they dominated the closing
minutes.
Rickie Lambert struck an 86th-minute penalty to secure Southampton a vital point in a 1-1 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage. Dimitar Berbatov
gave Fulham the lead in a tight match after pouncing from close range
when Kelvin Davis failed to deal with a cross by Sascha Riether. But
Chris Baird then handled the ball and Lambert rifled an unstoppable
spot-kick past Mark Schwarzer.
Reading
piled on the pressure in the second half against Swansea but had to
settle for a goalless draw with Adam Le Fondre prevented by a last-gasp
header from Chico Flores. The point enabled them to swap places with
QPR, climbing to 19th.
It took a
significant deflection for Everton to break the deadlock in a 2-1
victory over Wigan at Goodison with Leon Osman's shot connecting with
Gary Caldwell before finding the net. Wigan had a strong penalty claim
after Shaun Maloney was felled by Osman, but referee Lee Mason was
unmoved and Phil Jagielka produced a second-half header before Arouna
Kone pulled one back for the Latics.
Source:FIFA