The midweek lot of Premier League fixtures have now been complete with last season's top two teams, Manchester United and Manchester City, moving clear of the rest.
Reigning champions City remain in second place following their 2-0 victory at Wigan Athletic which came courtesy of second-half goals from Mario Balotelli and James Milner.
Roberto Mancini's men now are six points ahead of third-placed Chelsea, who drew 0-0 with Fulham, but sit a point in arrears of United who beat West Ham United 1-0 at home thanks to Robin van Persie's first-minute opener.
Surprise packets West Bromwich Albion were brought back down to earth with a thud as they lost 3-1 at Swansea City due to a Wayne Routledge double to fall to fourth whilst Tottenham moved up to fifth thanks to a 2-1 home victory over slow-staring Liverpool.
Sixth and seventh-placed Everton and Arsenal played out a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park as Stoke City came from behind to deny Newcastle United, winning 2-1 via late goals from Jon Walters and Cameron Jerome.
In the remaining matches, Norwich City held Southampton to a 1-1 draw at St Mary's whilst last night, Aston Villa scored a late winner in their 1-0 triumph over Reading as Sunderland and QPR played out a scoreless draw.
2012/12 Premier League scores
Southampton: 1 (Rickie Lambert 32') Norwich City: 1 (Robert Snodgrass 45') St Mary's Stadium, Southampton - 29,325
Stoke City: 2 (Jon Walters 81' Cameron Jerome 85') Newcastle United: 1 (Papiss Cisse 47') Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent - 26,793
Swansea City: 3 (Michu 9', Wayne Routledge 11'/39') West Bromwich Albion: 1 (Romelu Lukaku 45+3') Liberty Stadium, Swansea - 20,377
Tottenham: 2 (Aaron Lennon 7', Gareth Bale 16') Liverpool: 1 (Gareth Bale (og) 72') White Hart Lane, London - 36,162
Chelsea: 0 Fulham: 0 Stamford Bridge, London - 41,707
Everton: 1 (Marouane Fellaini 28') Arsenal: 1(Theo Walcott 1') Goodison Park, Liverpool - 37,141
Manchester United: 1 (Robin van Persie 1') West Ham United: 0 Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,572
Wigan Athletic: 0 Manchester City: 2 (Mario Balotelli 69', James Milner 72') DW Stadium, Wigan - 19,623
Tuesday night
Aston Villa: 1 (Christian Benteke 80') Reading: 0 Villa Park, Birmingham - 28,692
Sunderland: 0 Queens Park Rangers: 0 Stadium of Light, Sunderland - 36,513
