The England striker was on hand to turn the ball in three minutes before the break after City goalkeeper Joe Hart parried a goalbound shot from Michael Carrick.

United were reduced to 10 men midway through the second half when Cristiano Ronaldo was shown a second yellow card for a deliberate handball by referee Howard Webb.

Richard Dunne almost grabbed an injury time equaliser for the Blues but the ball was scrambled away on the goal-line by a combination of goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and full-back Patrice Evra.

Robin van Persie struck twice as Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge and breathe fresh life into their title bid.

An own goal from Johan Djourou gave Chelsea a 1-0 half-time lead, only for the match to be turned around with two goals in as many minutes after the restart.

Dutchman Van Persie looked offside when he levelled before then firing in a superb second to pull the Gunners back to within seven points of the Barclays Premier League leaders.

David Moyes marked his 300th game as Everton boss with victory over Tottenham courtesy of Steven Pienaar's deflected winner.

Pienaar caused a delay at the start of the second half as he was wearing the wrong shirt - then six minutes after the restart he found the back of the net when his shot cannoned in off Vedran Corluka.

It was Everton's third win in a row at White Hart Lane and also meant a first home defeat for Spurs boss Harry Redknapp.

There was bad news though for Moyes after the game when it emerged that Ayegbeni Yakubu had ruptured his Achilles tendon and would be out for the season while Louis Saha had torn his hamstring.

Portsmouth blew a two-goal lead again at Fratton Park but finally clinched new manager Tony Adams' first home win thanks to a rare Sean Davis goal to beat Blackburn.

Pompey were 2-0 up against AC Milan in the UEFA Cup on Thursday before having to settle for a 2-2 draw and had the same advantage over struggling Rovers eight minutes after half-time when Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe struck.

But Matt Derbyshire pulled one back for Rovers with his first touch less than 30 seconds after replacing Benni McCarthy and Tugay struck a 66th-minute equaliser before Davis, two minutes after coming on for Armand Traore, pounced on a rebound from Papa Bouba Diop's shot for his first goal since March 2006.