Manchester United bounced back into title contention courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The reigning Premier League champions sat eight points behind the league leaders prior to the weekend's fixtures and were able to cut that deficit to five on the back of a 27th-minute header from former Gunners star Robin van Persie.
Liverpool returned to second on the table with a 4-0 win over struggling Fulham at Anfield on Saturday.
In-form striker Luis Suarez tallied his seventh and eighth league goals of the season with deft finishes either side of half-time after an own-goal from Fernando Amorebieta and a thunderous header from Martin Skrtel gave the Reds the ascendency.
Third-placed Southampton continued their brilliant beginning to the season with a 4-1 victory at St Mary's over Hull City who dropped to 12th on the table.
The Saints extended their unbeaten run to eight league matches with goals from Morgan Schneiderlin, Rickie Lambert (penalty), Adam Lallana and Steven Davis as Yannick Sagbo got one back for the Tigers early in the second half.
Elsewhere, Chelsea were lucky to force a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge with Eden Hazard converting an injury-time penalty after Shane Long and Stephane Sessegnon had allowed the Baggies to hit back following Samuel Eto'o's first-half opener.
Late goals from Leandro Baunca and Libor Kozak gave Aston Villa a 2-0 home win over Cardiff City, Norwich City came from behind to recoil from last weekend's heavy defeat to Manchester City by beating West Ham United 3-1, Newcastle United edged Tottenham 1-0 with Tim Krul making 14 saves for the victors, Sunderland managed to beat City 1-0 at the Stadium of Light, Crystal Palace and Everton played out a 0-0 draw and Swansea City were denied maximum points as Stoke City were awarded a very late penalty in their 3-3 draw at the Liberty Stadium.
2013/14 Barclays Premier League season scores
Aston Villa: 2 (Leandro Bacuna 76', Libor Kozak 84') Cardiff City: 0 Villa Park, Birmingham - 35,809
Chelsea: 2 (Samuel Eto'o 45', Eden Hazard (p) 90+6') West Bromwich Albion: 2 (Shane Long 61', Stephane Sessegnon 68') Stamford Bridge, London - 41,623
Crystal Palace: 0 Everton: 0 Selhurst Park, London - 25,231
Liverpool: 4 (Fernando Amorebieta (og) 23', Martin Skrtel 26', Luis Suarez 36'/54') Fulham: 0 Anfield, Liverpool - 44,768
Southampton: 4 (Morgan Schneiderlin 16', Rickie Lambert (p) 30', Adam Lallana 37', Steven Davis 88') Hull City: 1 (Yannick Sagbo 55') St Mary's Stadium, Southampton - 30,022
Norwich City: 3 (Gary Hooper (p) 54', Robert Snodgrass 72', Leroy Fer 90+3') West Ham United: 1 (Ravel Morrison 32') Carrow Road, Norwich - 26,824
Tottenham: 0 Newcastle United: 1 (Loic Remy 13') White Hart Lane, London - 36,042
Sunderland: 1 (Phil Bardsley 21') Manchester City: 0 Stadium of Light, Sunderland - 40,137
Manchester United: 1 (Robin van Persie 27') Arsenal: 0 Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,138
Swansea City: 3 (Wilfried Bony 56'/86', Nathan Dyer 74') Stoke City: 3 (Jon Walters 8', Stephen Ireland 25', Charlie Adam (p) 90+6') Liberty Stadium, Swansea - 19,242
