Robin Van Persie finally broke his goal drought as Manchester United went 15 points clear at the top of the English Premier League table, while Sunderland picked up their first win under new manager Paolo Di Canio with a comprehensive victory over Newcastle in the Tyne-Wear Derby.
United were again in second gear for much of the 90 minutes, but it was more than enough against a Stoke City side devoid of any threat going forward. Goals from Michael Carrick and Van Persie, from the penalty spot, gave the Premier League champions-elect a 2-0 win.
With City playing in the F.A. Cup this weekend, United had the perfect chance to put further daylight between themselves and their neighbors, and they did just that with another professional performance, symptomatic of the rest of their campaign this season.
Van Persie created the opening goal, as his corner was not properly cleared by the Stoke defence, which allowed Carrick to poke home from close-range.
The game petered with United holding a stranglehold on the game without really having to do too much.
Van Persie ensured all three points in the 66th minute, winning a penalty after inducing a poor tackle from Andy Wilkinson, before stepping up and coolly slotting it past Asmir Begovic for his first goal since February.
Stoke are now in serious danger of being relegated, as they lie in 16th on 34 points from 33 games - the same as Aston Villa, who are 17th, and 15th placed Sunderland, and only three points ahead third bottom Wigan Athletic, who have two games in hand.
Meanwhile, in the Tyne-Wear Derby it was all Sunderland, as Di Canio weaved his magic to great effect.
Stephane Sessegnon opened the scoring in the first half for the away side at St James' Park, before Adam Johnson and David Vaughan made the game safe in the second 45 to give Sunderland a monumental 3-0 win over Newcastle, and move to within two points of their rivals.
"They were warriors," Di Canio told Sky Sports. "You can't be more proud than this. They did everything, they gave everything, they left all of their energy on the field.
"It was a fair result at 3-0, so I am very happy for them because they really suffered during the game. It was hard because we knew that we had a team in front of us with fantastic ability and quality.
"They worked through the strategy in a perfect way and it was a good result. It was an important result and they deserved it, so I am happy.
"It means that what I thought when I signed, there is quality in this team. There is absolute quality and it is important that we use it in the right way and play together as a team."