<p>Goals from Mario Balotelli, Micah Richards and Sergio Aguero condemned Newcastle to their first defeat of the season and left rampant City as the only unbeaten side in the league. <br /><br />City have 34 points from a possible 36 this season to lead Manchester United by eight points, although the champions were hoping to cut it to five with victory at Swansea City in the late kickoff. <br /><br />Arsenal maintained their improvement with a fifth consecutive league victory thanks to Robin van Persie’s double in a 2-1 win at Norwich City, which moved the London club above Liverpool into sixth place with 22 points. <br /><br />Liverpool (19) face fourth-placed Chelsea (22) on Sunday, with fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur (22) at home to eighth-placed Aston Villa on Monday. <br /><br />Bottom club Wigan Athletic ended a run of eight successive league defeats in a 3-3 home draw with fellow strugglers Blackburn Rovers, who equalised with an injury-time penalty. Bolton Wanderers remained in the relegation zone after a 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion. <br /><br />Everton eased away from the bottom three courtesy of a 2-1 home defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers won 3-2 at Stoke City, and Sunderland drew 0-0 with Fulham.<br /><br />At Carrow Road, Arsenal dominated throughout but had to come from a goal down after Steve Morison had given the home side a 16th minute lead in the day's early kickoff. <br /><br />Dutchman Van Persie equalised with a simple tap-in after 26 minutes and struck again just before the hour mark with a deft finish to take his league tally for the season to 13 and his calendar year total to 31. Theo Walcott nearly extended Arsenal’s lead late on but his fierce shot from an acute angle struck the outside of the post. <br /><br />Wenger came under pressure this season after a woeful start that included an 8-2 defeat at Man United and a 4-3 reverse at Blackburn Rovers, which had many writing off Arsenal's chances of a top-four finish. <br /></p>
<p>Goals from Mario Balotelli, Micah Richards and Sergio Aguero condemned Newcastle to their first defeat of the season and left rampant City as the only unbeaten side in the league. <br /><br />City have 34 points from a possible 36 this season to lead Manchester United by eight points, although the champions were hoping to cut it to five with victory at Swansea City in the late kickoff. <br /><br />Arsenal maintained their improvement with a fifth consecutive league victory thanks to Robin van Persie’s double in a 2-1 win at Norwich City, which moved the London club above Liverpool into sixth place with 22 points. <br /><br />Liverpool (19) face fourth-placed Chelsea (22) on Sunday, with fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur (22) at home to eighth-placed Aston Villa on Monday. <br /><br />Bottom club Wigan Athletic ended a run of eight successive league defeats in a 3-3 home draw with fellow strugglers Blackburn Rovers, who equalised with an injury-time penalty. Bolton Wanderers remained in the relegation zone after a 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion. <br /><br />Everton eased away from the bottom three courtesy of a 2-1 home defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers won 3-2 at Stoke City, and Sunderland drew 0-0 with Fulham.<br /><br />At Carrow Road, Arsenal dominated throughout but had to come from a goal down after Steve Morison had given the home side a 16th minute lead in the day's early kickoff. <br /><br />Dutchman Van Persie equalised with a simple tap-in after 26 minutes and struck again just before the hour mark with a deft finish to take his league tally for the season to 13 and his calendar year total to 31. Theo Walcott nearly extended Arsenal’s lead late on but his fierce shot from an acute angle struck the outside of the post. <br /><br />Wenger came under pressure this season after a woeful start that included an 8-2 defeat at Man United and a 4-3 reverse at Blackburn Rovers, which had many writing off Arsenal's chances of a top-four finish. <br /></p>