One of the most historic weekends in Premier League history provided what could have been a changing of the guard in Manchester.
A stunning performance from City saw Roberto Mancini's side come away with a 6-1 victory over United at Old Trafford, following an afternoon which Sir Alex Ferguson described as his 'worst ever day' at the club.
Elsewhere, in a fractious encounter at Loftus Road, QPR overcame nine-man Chelsea after an ill-tempered
game in West London .
Arsenal picked up a win but Liverpool were held by Norwich, Fulham fell in
injury time to Everton with Blackburn still bottom after a defeat to Tottenham.
Saturday
22nd October
Wolverhampton (0) 2 Swansea (2) 2
Wolves went two goals down at home to Swansea and looked to be heading for another defeat, with the crowd beginning to turn on Mick McCarthy.
Danny Graham and Joe Allen had capitalised on some sloppy defending and the Swans were on course to earn their first away win in the Premier League, but a spirited fightback from Wolves saw Kevin Doyle score from close range before Jamie O'Hara slammed in an equaliser - both goals coming in the last 10 minutes as the match ended in a 2-2 stalemate.
Wolverhampton Hennessey, Stearman, Berra, Johnson, Ward, Jarvis (Guedioura 68), Henry, O'Hara, Hammill (Milijas 68), Doyle, Ebanks-Blake (Vokes 83).
Subs Not Used: De Vries, Craddock, Hunt, Doherty.
Booked: Stearman, O'Hara.
Goals: Doyle 84, O'Hara 86.
Swansea Vorm, Rangel, Monk, Williams, Taylor, Dyer (Routledge 83), Allen, Gower (Moras 86), Britton (Orlandi 74), Sinclair, Graham.
Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Lita, Moore, Richards.
Goals: Graham 23, Allen 35.
Att: 25, 216.
Ref: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Aston Villa (1) 1 West Brom (1) 2
Aston Villa looked to be on the way to three points against Midlands rivals West Brom as Darren Bent put them ahead from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute, but things did not then go according to plan.
Chris Herd was sent off 10 minutes before half time for an alleged stamp but Chris Brunt fired the resulting penalty wide before Jonas Olsson equalised for the Baggies as the interval approached.
Down to 10 men and facing a battle to stay in the game, Alex McLeish's Villa could not keep things tight at the back as Paul Scharner scored the winner in a 2-1 victory.
Aston Villa Given, Hutton (Cuellar 41), Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Herd, Petrov, Bannan (Albrighton 78), N'Zogbia (Heskey 60), Bent, Agbonlahor.
Subs Not Used: Guzan, Ireland, Delfouneso, Clark.
Sent Off: Herd (36).
Booked: Hutton, Given.
Goals: Bent pen 23
West Brom Foster, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Jones, Brunt, Mulumbu (Morrison 78), Scharner, Thomas, Odemwingie, Long (Tchoyi 19).
Subs Not Used: Fulop, Shorey, Gera, Dawson, Cox.
Booked: Jones, Scharner, Mulumbu.
Goals: Olsson 45, Scharner 57.
Att: 34, 152.
Ref: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).
Bolton (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 2
Bolton and Sunderland have both endured torrid starts to the campaign but Steve Bruce will have slept a little better on Saturday night after his side earned a 2-0 win at the Reebok.
It was not a straightforward three points, though, with the match goalless until the 82nd minute when Stephane Sessegnon finished smartly inside the area.
Owen Coyle pushed his side forward in search of the equaliser but they came undone on the break as Sessegnon slipped in Nicklas Bendtner who put the result beyond doubt.
Bolton Jaaskelainen, Boyata (Gardner 53), Cahill, Wheater, Robinson, Eagles, Reo-Coker, Pratley, Petrov (Kakuta 65), Kevin Davies (Klasnic 65), Ngog.
Subs Not Used: Bogdan, Sanli, Knight, Mark Davies.
Sunderland Mignolet, O'Shea, Turner, Brown, Richardson (Bardsley 87), Wickham, Vaughan, Colback, Larsson, Sessegnon, Bendtner.
Subs Not Used: Westwood, Cattermole, Gardner, Ji, Meyler, Elmohamady.
Booked: Turner, Sessegnon, Colback.
Goals: Sessegnon 82, Bendtner 90.
Att: 24, 349.
Ref: Mike Jones (Cheshire).
Newcastle (0) 1 Wigan (0) 0
One unexpected team that remains unbeaten in the Premier League this season are Newcastle, who battled to a narrow 1-0 success at home to Wigan.
The Magpies are fourth in the table and level on points with Chelsea, but the Latics, who are second-bottom with just five points from nine games, made life difficult for the home team at St James' Park.
However, Yohan Cabaye scored his first goal for the club at the right time as he swept in the winner late on.
Newcastle Krul, Simpson, Steven Taylor, Coloccini, Ryan Taylor, Obertan (Marveaux 76), Cabaye, Tiote, Gutierrez, Best (Ben Arfa 46), Ba (Shola Ameobi 68).
Subs Not Used: Harper, Santon, Perch, Smith.
Booked: Cabaye, Best, Simpson.
Goals: Cabaye 81.
Wigan Al Habsi, Boyce, Alcaraz, Caldwell, Figueroa, Jones, Watson (McArthur 82), Diame, Moses, Rodallega, Crusat (Sammon 82).
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Thomas, Maloney, Gomez, Lopez.
Booked: Jones, Figueroa.
Att: 48, 321.
Ref: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire).
Liverpool (1) 1 Norwich (0) 1
Liverpool will be wondering how they did not beat Norwich City at Anfield, with the Reds missing a hatful of chances against the Canaries during their 1-1 draw.
Luis Suarez hit the post twice but Craig Bellamy made no mistake as he opened the scoring in front of the Kop in the first half.
But Grant Holt then leapt like a salmon to equalise with a bullet header with half an hour remaining.
Plaudits must go to the Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy, who made a string of outstanding saves.
Liverpool Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Jose Enrique, Kuyt (Agger 90), Gerrard, Adam, Downing (Carroll 80), Suarez, Bellamy (Henderson 69).
Subs Not Used: Doni, Maxi, Spearing, Flanagan.
Goals: Bellamy 45.
Norwich Ruddy, Naughton, Barnett, Russell Martin, Tierney, Bennett (Holt 57), Fox, Johnson, Pilkington (Crofts 90), Hoolahan, Morison.
Subs Not Used: Rudd, Jackson, Surman, Wilbraham, De Laet.
Booked: Tierney.
Goals: Holt 60.
Att: 44, 931.
Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).
Sunday
23rd October
Arsenal (1) 3 Stoke (1) 1
Arsenal are up to seventh following a 3-1 home victory over Stoke, but had to once again rely on Robin van Persie to get them over the line.
Both of these sides won in Europe in midweek and for the Gunners this was a third win on the trot.
Gervinho is settling into life at the Emirates following his summer switch from Lille and he opened the scoring in the 27th minute but the lead only lasted seven minutes as Peter Crouch equalised for the Potters.
Van Persie was left on the bench by Arsene Wenger and his introduction in the second half proved to be an inspired substitution, as the Dutchman scored twice in the final 17 minutes.
Arsenal Szczesny, Djourou, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Andre Santos, Walcott (Arshavin 71), Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Gervinho (Frimpong 90), Chamakh (van Persie 66).
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Rosicky, Park, Benayoun.
Goals: Gervinho 27, van Persie 73, van Persie 82
Stoke Begovic, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Upson, Wilson, Whitehead, Delap (Diao 60), Whelan, Etherington (Jerome 74), Walters, Crouch (Jones 74).
Subs Not Used: Sorensen, Huth, Shotton, Palacios.
Booked: Whitehead, Wilkinson.
Goals: Crouch 34.
Att: 59, 671.
Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire).
Fulham (0) 1 Everton (1) 3
Fulham went goal-crazy the last time they played at home but could not reproduce that good form as Everton travelled to Craven Cottage and earned a 3-1 win.
Perhaps Fulham were lagging from Thursday's defeat at Wisla Krakow, with Everton benefiting from a week's rest.
Royston Drenthe scored a fantastic opener from long range in just the second minute but Bryan Ruiz came off the bench to score an equaliser and seemingly earn the Cottagers a point.
Ruiz's goal was a chip of fine quality but late drama left his excellent strike meaning little at the final whistle.
Louis Saha and then Jack Rodwell scored in the dying minutes as the Toffees left the capital with a win under their belt, with Bobby Zamora guilty of a howling miss when the score was still 1-1.
Fulham Schwarzer, Grygera (Hughes 90), Baird, Hangeland, Riise, Dembele, Sidwell, Murphy (Ruiz 64), Dempsey, Zamora, Johnson.
Subs Not Used: Etheridge, Kelly, Duff, Etuhu, Frei.
Booked: Johnson, Sidwell, Baird.
Goals: Ruiz 67.
Everton Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman (Cahill 74), Rodwell, Neville (Coleman 74), Drenthe, Fellaini, Vellios (Saha 50).
Subs Not Used: Mucha, Heitinga, Bilyaletdinov, Stracqualursi.
Booked: Distin.
Goals: Drenthe 3, Rodwell 90, Saha 90.
Att: 25, 646.
Ref: Lee Probert (Wiltshire).
Man Utd (0) 1 Man City (1) 6
What was regarded as the most-anticipated Manchester derby in recent times did not disappoint in terms of entertainment, but it is a day United fans will want to forget in a hurry.
Jonny Evans was sent off for a tug on Mario Balotelli in the second half with the score at 1-0, and from thereon in the home side imploded as City took advantage with some ruthless attacking.
Balotelli was instrumental as the Blues took control and while Darren Fletcher scored a fine consolation to make it 3-1, United were at sixes and sevens at the back as Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Edin Dzeko (2) secured an emphatic win.
They are five points clear at the top of the table but more significant was the nature of the victory.
The noisy neighbours are here to stay.
Man Utd De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Nani (Hernandez 65), Fletcher, Anderson (Jones 66), Young, Rooney, Welbeck.
Subs Not Used: Lindegaard, Berbatov, Park, Fabio Da Silva, Valencia.
Sent Off: Evans (47).
Booked: Anderson, Evra, Smalling, Welbeck.
Goals: Fletcher 81.
Man City Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Toure Yaya, Barry, Milner (Kolarov 89), Silva, Balotelli (Dzeko 70), Aguero (Nasri 75).
Subs Not Used: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Toure, De Jong.
Booked: Balotelli, Kompany, Richards.
Goals: Balotelli 22, Balotelli 60, Aguero 69, Silva 90, Dzeko 90, Dzeko 90.
Att: 75, 487.
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
Blackburn (1) 1 Tottenham (1) 2
The anti-Steve Kean chants have become a regular occurrence and it was no different this weekend as Blackburn fell 2-1 to Tottenham.
Rafael van der Vaart continued his excellent record against Rovers with a brace while Mauro Formica scored for Blackburn.
Kyle Walker drove forward with great pace to pull it back for Van der Vaart for the opener, and despite Formica's smart finish for the equaliser, Spurs' Dutch attacker curled in a fine winner.
Blackburn Robinson, Lowe, Samba, Givet, Olsson, Vukcevic (Rochina 70), Nzonzi, Pedersen, Hoilett, Roberts (Goodwillie 82), Formica (Yakubu 70).
Subs Not Used: Bunn, Petrovic, Slew, Hanley.
Booked: Nzonzi, Lowe, Roberts, Yakubu.
Goals: Formica 28.
Tottenham Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (Rose 70), Parker, Modric, Bale, Van der Vaart (Defoe 88), Adebayor.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Livermore, Sandro, Townsend.
Booked: Rose.
Goals: Van der Vaart 15 Van der Vaart 53.
Att: 22, 786.
Ref: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
QPR (1) 1 Chelsea (0) 0
Sunday's drama was not finished and the headlines would have been made at Loftus Road were it not for City's conquering win.
Chelsea were beaten 1-0 by Queens Park Rangers and had two players sent off, with Heidar Helguson's first-half penalty making the difference.
Andre Villas-Boas was highly critical of referee Chris Foy after the final whistle as Jose Bosingwa and then Didier Drogba saw red during the opening period.
There was no question that Drogba deserved to be shown his marching orders after a poor challenge on Adel Taarabt, but Bosingwa's was certainly a more dubious decision.
Chelsea also had seven players booked and QPR's winner came as Helguson netted from the spot after being shoved in the back by David Luiz.
QPR Kenny, Young, Ferdinand, Hall, Hill, Derry (Mackie 81), Faurlin, Wright-Phillips, Barton, Taarabt (Smith 61), Helguson.
Subs Not Used: Murphy, Orr, Bothroyd, Buzsaky, Puncheon.
Booked: Derry, Barton.
Goals: Helguson pen 10
Chelsea Cech, Bosingwa, Terry, Luiz, Cole, Mikel, Meireles (Malouda 72), Lampard, Sturridge (Ivanovic 36), Drogba, Mata (Anelka 45).
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Romeu, McEachran, Kalou.
Sent Off: Bosingwa (33), Drogba (41).
Booked: Mikel, Lampard, Ivanovic, Luiz, Meireles, Cole, Terry.
Att: 18, 050.
Ref: Chris Foy (Merseyside).