Liverpool dropped points again, Chelsea are up to second, Arsenal drew at Everton and Craig Bellamy scored the winner on his City debut.
Merseyside duo draw, Chelsea, Hammers and City win as Rovers held
Liverpool dropped further points in their bid for a first Premier League title as Chelsea moved up to second after beating Middlesbrough.
Arsenal snatched a last-gasp draw at Everton to keep alive their faint hopes of the title, while Craig Bellamy marked his Manchester City bow with the winner against his old club Newcastle United.
Hull City slumped to a sixth successive Premier League defeat at West Ham United, while Sam Allardyce remains unbeaten as Blackburn Rovers manager after denying his former club Bolton Wanderers.
Mido marked his
Wigan Athletic debut with a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool, who were held for the fifth time in seven league games and now trail leaders Manchester United by two points.
Liverpool came close to taking an early lead as Steven Gerrard curled in a free-kick from the left and Fernando Torres' glancing header came back off the post.
The title contenders did make the breakthrough four minutes before half-time as Javier Mascherano slipped in Yossi Benayoun, who rounded Wigan keeper Mike Pollitt and squeezed home his shot from a narrow angle.
The Reds were made to pay for their failure to score a second goal on 83 minutes when Wigan earned a penalty after Lucas tripped Jason Koumas.
On-loan striker Mido, who scored in parent club Middlesbrough's 2-1 defeat at Liverpool earlier this season, stepped up to send Jose Reina the wrong way from the spot.
It could have been even worse for Liverpool in injury-time as Wigan substitute Hugo Rodallega almost marked his debut with a stunning goal only to see his 25-yard free-kick come back off the bar.
Salomon Kalou grabbed two second-half goals as
Chelsea won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to stretch
Middlesbrough's run without a league victory to 11 games.
Though Chelsea controlled the first half, chances were at a premium and it took until the 58th minute for the hosts to get their noses in front.
Boro failed to deal with Frank Lampard's corner and, when David Wheater's header dropped for Kalou, the Ivorian thumped his volley into the net.
Another corner on 81 minutes proved Boro's undoing again as keeper Ross Turnbull came and missed Lampard's cross, giving Kalou a simple header to allow Chelsea to move above Liverpool on goal difference.
Robin van Persie volleyed home an injury-time equaliser as
Arsenal fought back for a 1-1 draw at UEFA Champions League rivals
Everton.
A tight game burst in to life just past the hour mark when Leighton Baines dug out a cross from the left and Tim Cahill rose powerfully to head beyond Manuel Almunia.
Arsenal were struggling to find a way through the Everton defence until the second minute of stoppage-time when Abou Diaby's searching pass was chested under control by Van Persie and he smacked a stunning volley past Tim Howard.
Manchester City moved into the top half of the table after a battling 2-1 win over
Newcastle as Bellamy scored the decisive goal against his former club.
Mark Hughes' men took the lead on 17 minutes when the in-the-news Robinho played a pass in behind Jose Enrique and Shaun Wright-Phillips smashed his shot through the legs of stand-in keeper Steve Harper, who was filling in for injured City target Shay Given.
Harper, who signed a new contract earlier in the week, was then handed the captain's armband moments later after Michael Owen limped off.
Bellamy, whose last goal for West Ham was against Newcastle earlier this month, struck on his City debut on 77 minutes as he collected Pablo Zabaleta's pass on the edge of the box before turning and firing a low shot past Harper.
The Magpies grasped a lifeline four minutes later as David Edgar robbed Wayne Bridge of possession on the right of the box and his low cross was tapped in at the far post by Andy Carroll, but an equaliser was not forthcoming.
Blackburn are yet to lose since Allardyce replaced Paul Ince as manager as Rovers came from two goals down to force a 2-2 draw at home to local rivals
Bolton.
The visitors were in front on the quarter-hour mark as Ariza Makukula drove a cross-shot from the right of the box towards the far post where Matthew Taylor was sliding in to finish from close range.
And 10 minutes before half-time, Bolton were in dreamland as former Rovers striker Kevin Davies scored at the second attempt after his initial shot from Gretar Steinsson's cross was parried by Paul Robinson.
Blackburn pulled a goal back midway through the second half as Benni McCarthy played in Stephen Warnock to score beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen.
And moments later, Rovers had a great chance to equalise after substitute Roque Santa Cruz got in behind the defence before being brought down by Jaaskelainen.
The Bolton keeper made amends with a low save from McCarthy's spot-kick and then held on as the South African striker and Santa Cruz got in each other's way when trying to bundle home the rebound.
McCarthy atoned for his spot-kick miss three minutes from time as he turned the ball home from close range after Christopher Samba's knock-down had been helped on by Jason Roberts.
David Di Michele produced an inspired display as
West Ham continued their fine form with a convincing 2-0 home win over free-falling
Hull City.
The Hammers dominated the first half and came close to a 15th minute lead when the impressive Di Michele's brilliant curling effort came back off the post.
Midway through the first half, the Hammers were awarded a penalty as Carlton Cole tumbled under a token challenge from Sam Ricketts, but Mark Noble's spot-kick was superbly saved by Matt Duke, who was given a chance in goal at the expense of Boaz Myhill.
The Tigers' resistance was broken on 33 minutes as Cole's curling attempt was partially saved by Duke, but the ball continued on to the far post for Di Michele to nudge home.
The upright came to the visitors' rescue again before half-time as a flowing move involving Di Michele and Cole allowed the Italian to roll in a low cross, but Jack Collison's side-foot shot bounced off the post.
West Ham got the second goal their performance merited on 51 minutes when Di Michele's shot, following Matthew Upson's knock-back, came back off the post and was turned home by Cole.
