Manchester United extended their Premier League winning streak to six matches with a 4-2 triumph over crosstown rivals Manchester City on Sunday.

Louis van Gaal's Red Devils maintained third position on the table, pushing four points clear of fourth-placed City, as their chances of an automatic Champions League position received a massive boost.

Manuel Pellegrini's struggling reigning champions hit the front in the 8th minute when Sergio Aguero scored for the fourth time in the last five Manchester derbies, slotting home David Silva's low cross from the left.

However, United levelled six minutes later in fortuitous circumstances when Ander Herrera's cross from the left flank got tangled between Ashley Young and Gael Clichy's feet before falling nicely for the Red Devils winger to pounce on and fire home.

The former Aston Villa star then provided United's go-ahead goal on 27 minutes when he played a neat one-two with Daley Blind which ended in Marouane Fellaini rising above Clichy to head home Young's stand-up cross.

United found themselves 3-1 up just over 20 minutes after the break courtesy of a refreshed Juan Mata, who despite being slightly offside, got on the end of Wayne Rooney's clever ball before finishing between Joe Hart's legs.

It was all in front of City when the Red Devils grabbed a fourth courtesy of a lovely header from Chris Smalling which came from Young's pinpoint free-kick before Aguero became the quickest City player in history to reach 100 goals when he grabbed an equaliser in the 89th minute.

League leaders Chelsea kept their seven-point lead over the rest of the competition by edging QPR 1-0 at Loftus Road.

Jose Mourinho's Blues were kept extremely quiet by Chris Ramsey's R's before Cesc Fabregas bobbed up in the 88th minute to side-foot home Eden Hazard's cut-back pass to deny the relegation battlers a point.

Chelsea retained their ascendency over second-placed Arsenal who were also made to work hard for their 1-0 win at Burnley which extended their winning streak to eight.

Aaron Ramsey put the Gunners ahead in the 12th minute with a well-struck finish from close range after Clarets keeper Tom Heaton had denied Mesut Ozil before the home side's defence did everything they could to keep out the visitors but to no avail.

Yannick Bolasie scored a hat-trick in 11 minutes as Crystal Palace thrashed Sunderland 4-1 at the Stadium of Light after Glen Murray had opened the scoring with his sixth goals in six games and before Connor Wickham grabbed a late consolation.

The win allowed Alan Pardew's Eagles to stay in 11th spot on the table as the Black Cats teetered on the brink of the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Swansea City and Everton drew 1-1 at the Liberty Stadium, Christian Benteke scored again to give Aston Villa a 1-0 win at Tottenham in Tim Sherwood's return to White Hart Lane, bottom-placed Leicester City kept their survival hopes alive with a 3-2 triumph at West Bromwich Albion (their second last-gasp win on the trot), Stoke City forced a 1-1 draw at West Ham United courtesy of a late Marko Arnautovic goal as Southampton returned to fifth with a 2-0 home win over 17th-placed Hull City.

Monday night sees Liverpool, currently sitting sixth, host Newcastle United who are on a run of four straight defeats.

Swansea City: 1 (Jonjo Shelvey (p) 69') Everton: 1 (Aaron Lennon 41') Liberty Stadium, Swansea - 20,468

Southampton: 2 (James Ward-Prowse (p) 56', Graziano Pelle (p) 81') Hull City: 0 St Mary's Stadium, Southampton - 30,359

Sunderland: 1 (Connor Wickham 90') Crystal Palace: 4 (Glen Murray 48', Yannick Bolasie 51'/53'/62') Stadium of Light, Sunderland - 42,074

Tottenham: 0 Aston Villa: 1 (Christian Benteke 35', red card: Carlos Sanchez 90+4') White Hart Lane, London - 35,687

West Bromwich Albion: 2 (Darren Fletcher 8', Craig Gardner 26') Leicester City: 3 (David Nugent 20', Robert Huth 80', Jamie Vardy 90+1') The Hawthorns, West Bromwich - 26,768

West Ham United: 1 (Aaron Cresswell 7') Stoke City: 1 (Marko Arnautovic 90+5') Upton Park, London - 34,946

Burnley: 0 Arsenal: 1 (Aaron Ramsey 12') Turf Moor, Burnley - 20,615

QPR: 0 Chelsea: 1 (Cesc Fabregas 88') Loftus Road, London - 17,939

Manchester United: 4 (Ashley Young 14', Marouane Fellaini 27', Juan Mata 67', Chris Smalling 73') Manchester City: 2 (Sergio Aguero 8'/89') Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,313