Two early goals sent Manchester United on their way to a 3-0 victory over Newcastle United, as Spurs continued their good run with a comfortable win over Aston Villa in a busy Sunday of the English Premier League.
The other two games saw Liverpool frustrated by Stoke City to a goalless draw, while Southampton fought back to salvage a point against Fulham.
At St James' Park, United climbed to second in the table, with goals from Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra - both from corners - and Tom Cleverley getting the goals in a 3-0 victory. United are four points behind leaders Chelsea on 15 points from seven games.
United, who have been criticized, and rightly too, for making slow starts, did the exact opposite this time, getting off the blocks in stunning fashion.
The first fifteen minutes, was absolute domination from Manchester United, as Sir Alex Ferguson opted for an attacking line-up, starting with Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie, Danny Welbeck and Shinji Kagawa.
That attack created havoc in the United defense, with Welbeck receiving the first chance. Van Persie played a ball to Evans inside the box, who cleverly backheeled the ball to Welbeck, but the striker could only manage a weak strike.
Van Persie then forced a save from Steve Harper, after latching onto a pass from Michael Carrick. The resulting corner, however, gave United their first goal - Evans rising highest to power home a Van Persie corner in the eighth minute.
United continued to torment the Newcastle defense, their pace and power in the middle of the park, overpowering the home team.
Welbeck had another chance to score, with the England international dispossessing goalkeeper Harper, but failing to find the target despite having an empty net in front of him.
Rooney was again pulling the strings in a withdrawn role, although the trio of Van Persie, Welbeck and Rooney kept switching positions at will. Last year's top scorer for United came close to getting a goal himself, but his free kick from about 25 yards was well saved by Harper.
Rooney, however, garnered another assist, as his corner was brilliantly headed in by Evra in the 15th minute. Newcastle got their first chance of the game soon after, with captain Jonas Guttierez going close with a strike just outside the box.
The home team slowly grew into the game, the lethal strike duo of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse coming close on a couple of occasions.
Early in the second half, however, Newcastle really should have reduced the deficit. Ba found space inside the box, before powering a header onto the crossbar, only for Cisse to follow up with a header of his own. David De Gea made a last-gasp save, clawing the ball onto the post and out; but replays suggested the ball might have crossed the line before the Spanish goalkeeper's intervention.
The goal was not given, however, and United comfortably withstood the rest of the Newcastle attacks, with Cleverley adding the third goal in the 71st minute from outside the box. Cleverley might consider himself a bit lucky to have scored, with the midfielder seemingly looking to pick out Van Persie with a looping ball, but seeing his over-hit ball catch the goalkeeper off his line, although the midfielder, no doubt, will claim he meant to score. The goal was his furst Premier League goal for United, after he had incidentally scored his first ever senior goal in the League Cup win over Newcastle.
At White Hart Lane, second half goals from Steven Caulker and Aaron Lennon gave Tottenham a 2-0 victory over Villa. The win took Andre Villas-Boas' side to fifth on 14 points.
Results: Newcastle United 0-3 Manchester United; Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Aston Villa; Liverpool 0-0 Stoke City; Southampton 2-2 Fulham.
