London: Sergio Aguero opened the floodgates as unbeaten Manchester City thrashed promoted Norwich City 5-1 on Saturday to power seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.
On-form Tottenham Hotspur were also in full flow at White Hart Lane, demolishing a 10-man Bolton Wanderers 3-0 to wrest second place from champions Manchester United for a few hours at least.
United were playing at Aston Villa in a later kickoff.
Argentine striker Aguero opened the scoring at the Etihad Stadium by stabbing in his 11th league goal of the season from deep inside the penalty area in the 32nd minute.
Samir Nasri added City`s second in the 51st and Yaya Toure scored in the 68th before Steve Morison pulled one back nine minutes from time.
There was no holding off City however, with substitute Mario Balotelli making it 4-1 in the 88th and Adam Johnson completing the rout in added time.
Spurs` sixth straight league win was made easier by Bolton having defender Gary Cahill sent off after 18 minutes.
North London rivals Arsenal were not to be outdone, thrashing bottom side Wigan Athletic 4-0.
Manchester City have 38 points from 14 matches, with Tottenham and Manchester United on 31 and 30 points respectively from 13 games.
Chelsea`s Frank Lampard had a penalty saved at Newcastle United but the visitors still celebrated a morale-boosting 3-0 win after scoring twice in the dying minutes on an afternoon of missed opportunities at St James`s Park.
Chelsea, fourth overall, were fortunate not to have David Luiz sent off in the fourth minute for felling Newcastle`s Demba Ba on the edge of the area.
Newcastle, on an emotional afternoon for home fans paying tribute to their late former captain Gary Speed, dropped to sixth and behind Arsenal on goal difference.
Arsenal scored twice in the space of two minutes in the first half and added two more in the second with league top scorer Robin van Persie taking his 14th of the campaign so far.
The defeat left Wigan rooted to the bottom of the league and to add to their woes, troubled Blackburn Rovers saw off Swansea City 4-2 with Yakubu Aiyegbeni scoring all four Blackburn goals including one from the penalty spot.
Queens Park Rangers and West Bromwich Albion drew 1-1.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, December 04, 2011, 00:10