A big weekend in the race for a top four finish and the relegation scrap saw Arsenal and Spurs come away with important victories whilst Wigan were once again the winners down at the bottom as they emerged from the bottom three.
Manchester United beat Sunderland 1-0 in the early kick-off at the Stadium of Light in a pretty forgettable fixture. The home side were typically negative but it took a Titus Bramble own goal for the champions elect to take the three points.
It meant the Red Devils ended the day with their 15 point lead at the top of the Premier League intact, with second-placed Manchester City brushing aside Newcastle with a 4-0 thumping at the Etihad. With the pressure off City thanks to the most boring title race in years being all but over, Mancini's men were able to go goal crazy with goals from Carlos Tevez, David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure on the scoresheet.
Wigan's victory over Norwich means that Newcastle are now just three points above the relegation zone. Roberto Martinez is making a habit of guiding the Latics away from danger in the final months of the season and they seem to be repeating the trick this year. Arouna Kone struck a brilliant effort 9 minutes from time to see off the Canaries, who are not yet out of relegation danger themselves.
Chelsea slipped to fourth in the table as Mauricio Pochettino continued his knack of getting one over on the Premier League big boys. Having beaten Manchester City and Liverpool in his only previous two wins as Southampton manager, his third came at the expense of the Londoners as Rickie Lambert's stunning freekick ensured a 2-1 win. Jay Rodriguez had put the Saints ahead after 20 minutes before John Terry's headed equaliser, but Lambert hit the winner on the stroke of half-time to send his side 12th.
That result allowed Arsenal to make up ground, the Gunners are now just 2 points behind their London rivals, whilst Spurs climbed to 3rd. Andre Villas-Boas had Gareth Bale to thank once more as the Welshman wonderfully assisted Jan Vertonghen before scoring a beauty of his own to take the three points at Swansea.
Arsenal meanwhile hit four past Reading to condemn Nigel Atkins to defeat in his first match in charge and leave the Royals rock bottom of the Premier League. Gervinho was the unlikely star at the Emirates as the Ivorian scored the opener before laying on assists for Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud, with Mikel Arteta slamming home a late penalty to end the scoring.
Elsewhere West Ham ended a poor run of form with an Andy Carroll-inspired 3-1 victory over West Brom, whilst Everton beat a dreadful Stoke side 1-0 in the late kick-off at Goodison Park.
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