<p>United, who led through Javier Hernandez's early second-half goal, were pegged back by Demba Ba's controversial penalty which left Alex Ferguson's side four points behind City who play at Liverpool on Sunday. <br /><br />"It was a shocking decision," manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports after defender Rio Ferdinand was penalised for a tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa. "It cost us." <br /><br />Tottenham Hotspur, with a double from Emmanuel Adebayor, stayed third after coming from behind to win 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion while Chelsea emerged from their recent slump to give under-pressure manager Andre Villas-Boas a huge boost with a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge. <br /><br />Manchester City have 34 points, followed by Manchester United on 30, Spurs (28), Newcastle (26) and Chelsea (25). <br /><br />Franco Di Santo struck a last-gasp winner to lift Wigan Athletic off the bottom with a 2-1 victory at Sunderland. Blackburn dropped to the basement after losing 3-1 at Stoke City in the lunchtime kickoff. <br /><br />United have stumbled at home in this season's Champions League and after being held to a midweek draw by Benfica, they also found high-flying Newcastle tough to crack on their return to domestic action, even when the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Jonas Gutierrez's 79th minute dismissal. <br /><br />A fine performance from goalkeeper Tim Krul was overshadowed by Newcastle's 64th minute equaliser when referee Mike Jones awarded a spotkick despite Ferdinand seemingly winning the ball fairly from Ben Arfa. <br /><br />Ba dispatched the penalty, leaving an angry Ferguson to remonstrate angrily with the match officials. </p>.<p>United, who wasted a host of chances, were also denied by a late goalline clearance and had a goal ruled out for offside in stoppage time. <br /><br />Chelsea, who had lost three of their previous four league games and their last two at home, cruised past Wolves after John Terry, Dean Sturridge and Juan Mata struck before halftime. <br /><br />Spurs made it five successive league wins with a comeback success at the Hawthorns while in other matches, Everton won 2-0 at Bolton Wanderers and Norwich beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1.<br /></p>
<p>United, who led through Javier Hernandez's early second-half goal, were pegged back by Demba Ba's controversial penalty which left Alex Ferguson's side four points behind City who play at Liverpool on Sunday. <br /><br />"It was a shocking decision," manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports after defender Rio Ferdinand was penalised for a tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa. "It cost us." <br /><br />Tottenham Hotspur, with a double from Emmanuel Adebayor, stayed third after coming from behind to win 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion while Chelsea emerged from their recent slump to give under-pressure manager Andre Villas-Boas a huge boost with a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge. <br /><br />Manchester City have 34 points, followed by Manchester United on 30, Spurs (28), Newcastle (26) and Chelsea (25). <br /><br />Franco Di Santo struck a last-gasp winner to lift Wigan Athletic off the bottom with a 2-1 victory at Sunderland. Blackburn dropped to the basement after losing 3-1 at Stoke City in the lunchtime kickoff. <br /><br />United have stumbled at home in this season's Champions League and after being held to a midweek draw by Benfica, they also found high-flying Newcastle tough to crack on their return to domestic action, even when the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Jonas Gutierrez's 79th minute dismissal. <br /><br />A fine performance from goalkeeper Tim Krul was overshadowed by Newcastle's 64th minute equaliser when referee Mike Jones awarded a spotkick despite Ferdinand seemingly winning the ball fairly from Ben Arfa. <br /><br />Ba dispatched the penalty, leaving an angry Ferguson to remonstrate angrily with the match officials. </p>.<p>United, who wasted a host of chances, were also denied by a late goalline clearance and had a goal ruled out for offside in stoppage time. <br /><br />Chelsea, who had lost three of their previous four league games and their last two at home, cruised past Wolves after John Terry, Dean Sturridge and Juan Mata struck before halftime. <br /><br />Spurs made it five successive league wins with a comeback success at the Hawthorns while in other matches, Everton won 2-0 at Bolton Wanderers and Norwich beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1.<br /></p>