Reading claimed a first away win of the season at Newcastle, Loic Remy scored on his QPR debut and Wigan dropped into the bottom three.
Reading gain first away win, QPR draw and Wigan lose at home
Reading claimed a first away win of the season at Newcastle United and Loic Remy scored on his Queens Park Rangers debut against West Ham United.
Wigan Athletic slipped into the drop zone after losing at home to Sunderland as Norwich City shipped five goals against Liverpool for the second time this season before Aston Villa moved out of the bottom three after a draw at West Bromwich Albion.
Champions Manchester City picked up three points at home against Fulham and Swansea City proved too strong for Stoke City in South Wales.
Adam Le Fondre scored twice in the space of six second-half minutes as
Reading came from behind to win 2-1 at St James' Park and pile the pressure on
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew.
Newcastle gained the initiative 10 minutes before half-time when Yohan Cabaye marked his first start for over two months by curling an excellent free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.
Reading equalised in unconventional circumstances on 71 minutes when Jimmy Kebe's low cross was turned in by what appeared to be Le Fondre's midriff.
The game was completely turned on its head six minutes later when Le Fondre finished much more confidently after Hope Akpan had mis-hit his shot, with the goal lifting Reading up to 17th, albeit potentially for just a couple of hours.
Record signing Remy was denied a dream debut for
Queens Park Rangers by a player Harry Redknapp was also keen to sign as Joe Cole earned
West Ham United a 1-1 draw at Upton Park.
Only 14 minutes were on the clock when Remy started to repay QPR's investment as he finished coolly past Jussi Jaaskelainen after being sent clear by Adel Taarabt's incisive pass.
West Ham felt they should have had a penalty on the half-hour when Marouane Chamakh was held by Clint Hill, but the home side did draw level midway through the second half when Joe Cole had a simple finish after Julio Cesar pushed out Carlton Cole's header.
Steven Fletcher reached double figures for the season for
Sunderland by scoring a brace in a 3-2 win at
Wigan which dumps Roberto Martinez's side into the bottom three.
The Black Cats had endured a miserable start to the game after falling behind on four minutes when David Vaughan turned Ronnie Stam's scuffed shot beyond his own keeper.
But the visitors quickly recovered and drew level on 17 minutes through Craig Gardner's penalty after James McCarthy's raised arm had blocked Sebastian Larsson's free-kick.
Sunderland were soon in the ascendancy and went ahead three minutes later when Fletcher finished emphatically at the second attempt after his initial header from Alfred N'Diaye's cross was blocked.
Fletcher scored his second of the afternoon, and 10th for Sunderland, just three minutes before half-time with another thumping finish after the Scot had been teed up by Adam Johnson.
Wigan gave themselves hope with 11 minutes to go when Shaun Maloney's cross to the far post was headed home by Angelo Henriquez for the on-loan forward's first goal in English football.
A point was enough to lift
Aston Villa out of the relegation places despite Paul Lambert's side throwing away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at
West Brom.
Christian Benteke's powerful drive gave Villa the lead on 12 minutes and the advantage was increased through Gabriel Agbonlahor's low finish on 31 minutes.
However, the Baggies pulled a goal back four minutes into the second half when Chris Brunt's side-foot from 25 yards clipped the post on its way in to the net.
And, after wasting a couple of good opportunities, Peter Odemwingie earned West Brom a point with seven minutes to go when he hooked home Gareth McAuley's knock-down from a corner.
Manchester City closed to within four points of leaders Manchester United after David Silva scored a goal in each half in a routine 2-0 home win over
Fulham.
City enjoyed a flying start by taking the lead after just two minutes when David Silva was presented with a simple finish after Mark Schwarzer could only parry Edin Dzeko's well-struck shot.
Silva doubled the champions' advantage on 69 minutes with a delightful dinked finish over Schwarzer after Carlos Tevez's clever flick had played the Spaniard into the box.
Luis Suarez scored against
Norwich again and Daniel Sturridge was on target for the third game in a row as
Liverpool crushed Chris Hughton's side 5-0 at Anfield.
Liverpool took the lead on 26 minutes when the ball broke to Jordan Henderson on the edge of the box and the midfielder smashed a superb volley beyond Mark Bunn.
It was 2-0 just 10 minutes later when Sturridge's clever dummy from Lucas' pass sent Suarez through on goal and the Uruguayan converted the chance for his 16th Premier League goal of the season.
Sturridge continued his fine start to his Liverpool career by scoring the third goal on 59 minutes, tapping home from close range after Stewart Downing had teased a ball across the face of goal.
Captain Steven Gerrard drove home the fourth foal on 66 minutes and the day got worse for Norwich on 74 minutes when Ryan Bennett turned Raheem Sterling's shot into his own goal after the Liverpool winger had beaten Michael Turner to the ball.
Swansea warmed up for next week's Capital One Cup semi-final with Chelsea with a 3-1 victory over
Stoke at the Liberty Stadium.
The hosts had been the better of the two sides in the first half and got their reward four minutes after the interval when Ben Davies finished confidently after breaking forward from left-back.
Jonathan De Guzman scored his first of the game on 57 minutes when the on-loan midfielder whipped a sumptuous free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.
And De Guzman's second with 10 minutes to go was equally eye-catching as he finished past Asmir Begovic after being played in by a delicious touch from Danny Graham.
The only bright spot for Stoke came in the final minute when Michael Owen scored his first goal for the club, the substitute glancing home Cameron Jerome's cross.
