Rooney back on form; Arsenal and Blues triumph; Baggies make point
Wayne Rooney helped Manchester United march on at the summit as Arsenal and Chelsea both had to come from behind for victories, while West Brom and Wigan shared the spoils.
England international Rooney scored his first goals from open play at Old Trafford since March as Manchester United stormed on with a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.
United needed just 49 seconds to take the lead as Edwin van der Sar's quick thinking saw the Dutchman release Wayne Rooney, who held off Richard Dunne to lash beyond Brad Friedel.
And Rooney made it 2-0 a similar amount of time before the interval as he applied a neat close-range finish to Nani's splendid cross from the right, before £18million striker Darren Bent pulled one back from Stewart Downing's cross in the 58th minute.
Any United nerves were almost immediately eased as Rooney laid the ball off for centre-back Nemanja Vidic to fire home the goal of the night with a powerful, curling effort.
Laurent Koscielny helped Arsenal come from behind to defeat Everton 2-1 at Emirates Stadium and remain firmly in the title race.
The Gunners were left fuming as Louis Saha looked to be at least a yard offside as he collected Seamus Coleman's delayed pass before firing beyond Wojciech Szczesny.
Referee Lee Mason spoke to his assistant but the goal stood despite Arsenal's furious protests, which Arsene Wenger continued at length with the fourth official.
Andrey Arshavin grabbed a welcome leveller 20 minutes from time as he volleyed home after Cesc Fabregas' sublime ball over the top, before Koscielny headed the winner as Everton's defence were caught napping at a corner.
Thrilling
Chelsea, who splashed out over £70million on transfer deadline day to land Fernando Torres and David Luiz, remain 10 points adrift after a thrilling 4-2 win at Sunderland.
The Black Cats made a dream start as Phil Bardsley cut in from the left and fired beyond Petr Cech, only for Frank Lampard to level from the spot after Ahmed Elmohamady's clumsy barge on Ashley Cole.
Chelsea then took the lead as Salomon Kalou slotted beyond Craig Gordon as he raced from his goal before Kieran Richardson restored parity with a clever free-kick under the wall which again left Cech bemused.
The reigning champions then proceeded to batter their hosts for much of the second half and went back in front when Frank Lampard's shot was superbly saved by Gordon only for John Terry to fire home the rebound, before Nicolas Anelka stabbed home in the closing moments.
Marc-Antoine Fortune's header 11 minutes from time earned West Brom a point from their home date with fellow strugglers Wigan.
Peter Odemwingie's assured early finish from Jerome Thomas' incisive pass put the Baggies in front, only for Charles N'Zogbia to level with a free-kick which took a wicked deflection to leave Boaz Myhill with no chance.
And it was 2-1 to the Latics before the break as Ben Watson's wicked whipped free-kick from out on the left evaded everyone in the box and flew beyond Myhill.
Fortune's leveller from another Thomas pass set up a frenetic finish but the Baggies could not find another way through.
England international Rooney scored his first goals from open play at Old Trafford since March as Manchester United stormed on with a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.
United needed just 49 seconds to take the lead as Edwin van der Sar's quick thinking saw the Dutchman release Wayne Rooney, who held off Richard Dunne to lash beyond Brad Friedel.
And Rooney made it 2-0 a similar amount of time before the interval as he applied a neat close-range finish to Nani's splendid cross from the right, before £18million striker Darren Bent pulled one back from Stewart Downing's cross in the 58th minute.
Any United nerves were almost immediately eased as Rooney laid the ball off for centre-back Nemanja Vidic to fire home the goal of the night with a powerful, curling effort.
Laurent Koscielny helped Arsenal come from behind to defeat Everton 2-1 at Emirates Stadium and remain firmly in the title race.
The Gunners were left fuming as Louis Saha looked to be at least a yard offside as he collected Seamus Coleman's delayed pass before firing beyond Wojciech Szczesny.
Referee Lee Mason spoke to his assistant but the goal stood despite Arsenal's furious protests, which Arsene Wenger continued at length with the fourth official.
Andrey Arshavin grabbed a welcome leveller 20 minutes from time as he volleyed home after Cesc Fabregas' sublime ball over the top, before Koscielny headed the winner as Everton's defence were caught napping at a corner.
Thrilling
Chelsea, who splashed out over £70million on transfer deadline day to land Fernando Torres and David Luiz, remain 10 points adrift after a thrilling 4-2 win at Sunderland.
The Black Cats made a dream start as Phil Bardsley cut in from the left and fired beyond Petr Cech, only for Frank Lampard to level from the spot after Ahmed Elmohamady's clumsy barge on Ashley Cole.
Chelsea then took the lead as Salomon Kalou slotted beyond Craig Gordon as he raced from his goal before Kieran Richardson restored parity with a clever free-kick under the wall which again left Cech bemused.
The reigning champions then proceeded to batter their hosts for much of the second half and went back in front when Frank Lampard's shot was superbly saved by Gordon only for John Terry to fire home the rebound, before Nicolas Anelka stabbed home in the closing moments.
Marc-Antoine Fortune's header 11 minutes from time earned West Brom a point from their home date with fellow strugglers Wigan.
Peter Odemwingie's assured early finish from Jerome Thomas' incisive pass put the Baggies in front, only for Charles N'Zogbia to level with a free-kick which took a wicked deflection to leave Boaz Myhill with no chance.
And it was 2-1 to the Latics before the break as Ben Watson's wicked whipped free-kick from out on the left evaded everyone in the box and flew beyond Myhill.
Fortune's leveller from another Thomas pass set up a frenetic finish but the Baggies could not find another way through.
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