JOIN USUnited go 15 points clear of rivals City
Leaders Manchester United beat bottom side Queens Park Rangers 2-0 with a stunning strike from Rafael and a late Ryan Giggs goal to move 15 points clear of champions Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday.
Rafael blasted an unstoppable shot past his fellow Brazilian, goalkeeper Julio Cesar, in the 23rd minute while Giggs, playing in his 999th senior match, made it 2-0 to Alex Ferguson's side 10 minutes from time.
The victory moved United on to 68 points from 27 matches, while City, who have 53 points from 26 games, face third-placed Chelsea at home on Sunday.
Arsenal moved within a point of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who play West Ham United on Monday, and ended their run of two successive home defeats with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa thanks to a double from Santi Cazorla.
Wigan Athletic won 3-0 at fellow strugglers Reading with two goals from Arouna Kone and one by Maynor Figueroa before the hosts had Pavel Pogrebnyak sent off early in the second half for a rash challenge on Figueroa.
Wigan, who now have 24 points, moved out of the relegation zone and above Aston Villa (24) and Reading (23) with basement side QPR adrift on 17.
Dimitar Berbatov struck a superb volley to give Fulham a 1-0 win over Stoke City in an early mid-table clash but the visitors spurned a chance to equalise when John Walters' poorly taken penalty was saved by Mark Schwarzer after 56 minutes. In the other games, Norwich City got two late goals to beat Everton 2-1 and West Bromwich Albion overcame Sunderland 2-1.
Sociedad down Bilbao
Real Sociedad leapfrogged Valencia to move into fifth place in La Liga after coming from a goal down to win 3-1 at Athletic Bilbao in Friday's Basque derby.
Ibai Gomez put the home side ahead with a stunning volley in the 30th minute before Antoine Griezmann nodded an equaliser for Sociedad four minutes later.
A howler from Bilbao goalkeeper Raul let in Imanol Agirretxe to score in the 67th minute and Sociedad's Mexican forward Carlos Vela curled in a third for the visitors 14 minutes from time to seal their first victory at the San Mames in more than a decade.
Sociedad, the only side to beat leaders Barcelona this season, have 40 points from 25 matches.
The latest reverse for Bilbao, a shadow of the team that reached the final of the Europa League and the King's Cup last season, leaves them down in 15th position on 26 points and coach Marcelo Bielsa in serious peril.