Reigning Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City closed the gap to five points with leaders Chelsea on the weekend.
Manuel Pellegrini's side produced a comfortable 5-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to reduce the deficit from seven to five points as the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley.
At Eastlands, Sergio Aguero took his season tally to 17 goals by opening the scoring in just the 2nd minute before Samir Nasri quickly made it 2-0 ten minutes later.
Edin Dzeko added a third in the 21st minute before a David Silva double early in the second half gave City a much-deserved triumph.
At Stamford Bridge, ten-man Chelsea were unable to put their dominance on the scoreboard as Burnley grabbed a late equaliser through Ben Mee.
Branislav Ivanovic gave the Blues the lead in the 14th minute with his fourth goal in his past six appearances before Nemanja Matic was sent off 20 minutes from time for clashing with Ashley Barnes which allowed the Clarets to pull one back in the 81st minute.
Arsenal had some luck in beating Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park which sent them to third place on the table.
An early penalty from Santi Cazorla preceded Olivier Giroud's finish on the stroke of half-time.
Alan Pardew's Eagles had created more of the chances throughout and were unfortunate not to score prior to Glenn Murray's injury-time goal which came just moments before he hit the upright with a header.
Nevertheless, Arsene Wenger's Gunners leapfrogged Manchester United who went down 2-1 to Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.
Ander Herrera's 28th-minute goal had Louis van Gaal's Red Devils in the ascendency before Ki Sung-yueng responded two minutes later prior to Bafetimbi Gomis producing a winner in the 73rd minute to see the Swans remain ninth on the standings.
On Sunday, Liverpool kept their Champions League hopes alive by getting the better of Southampton 2-0 at St Mary's Stadium.
Goals either side of the break from Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling saw Brendan Rodgers' Reds move up to sixth and they now sit just two points behind fourth-placed Man Utd.
In other fixtures, Stoke City came from behind to beat ten-man Aston Villa 2-1 at Villa Park, Hull City came up with a 2-1 home win over fellow relegation battlers QPR, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion drew 0-0 at the Stadium of Light and a late Matthew Upson own-goal denied Leicester City a win at Everton with the score ending 2-2 at Goodison Park.
And at White Hart Lane, Tottenham scored two late goals to deny West Ham United a famous win over their London rivals.
Cheikou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho had the Hammers 2-0 just after the hour-mark but Danny Rose's 81st-minute effort and Harry Kane's 14th league goal of the campaign gave Spurs a share of the points which saw them drop one spot to seventh.
2014/15 Barclays Premier League - season scores
Aston Villa: 1 (Scott Sinclair 20', red card: Ron Vlaar 90+2') Stoke City: 2 (Mame Biram Diouf 45', Victor Moses (p) 90+3') Villa Park, Birmingham - 31,880
Chelsea: 1 (Branislav Ivanovic 14', red card: Nemanja Matic 70') Burnley: 1 (Ben Mee 81') Stamford Bridge, London - 41,629
Crystal Palace: 1 (Glenn Murray 90+4') Arsenal: 2 (Santi Cazorla (p) 8', Olivier Giroud 45+1') Selhurst Park, London - 24,271
Hull City: 2 (Nikica Jelavic 16', Dame N'Doye 89') QPR: 1 (Charlie Austin 39', red card: Joey Barton 32') KC Stadium, Kingston-upon-Hull - 24,466
Sunderland: 0 West Bromwich Albion: 0 Stadium of Light, Sunderland - 40,943
Swansea City: 2 (Ki Sung-yueng 30', Bafetimbi Gomis 73') Manchester United: 1 (Ander Herrera 28') Liberty Stadium, Swansea - 20,809
Manchester City: 5 (Sergio Aguero (p) 2', Samir Nasri 12', Edin Dzeko 21', David Silva 51'/53') Newcastle United: 0 Etihad Stadium, Manchester - 45,602
Tottenham: 2 (Danny Rose 81', Harry Kane 90+6') West Ham United: 2 (Cheikhou Kouyate 22', Diafra Sakho 62') White Hart Lane, London - 35,837
Everton: 2 (Steven Naismith 57', Matthew Upson (og) 88') Leicester City: 2 (David Nugent 63', Esteban Cambiasso 70') Goodison Park, Liverpool - 38,904
Southampton: 0 Liverpool: 2 (Philippe Coutinho 3', Raheem Sterling 73') St Mary's Stadium, Southampton - 31,723
