David Moyes had a nightmare result against his former side Everton, as Manchester United were the only big team to lose on another goal-filled night in the English Premier League.
Arsenal maintained their four-point lead at the top of the table courtesy a comfortable 2-0 win at home against Hull, while Chelsea and Manchester City just about managed three points on their respective away trips at Sunderland and West Brom.
Liverpool had a bit of fun against Norwich at Anfield -- Luis Suarez scoring an amazing four goals in a 5-1 victory -- while Tottenham took the first steps towards resurgence with three points at struggling Fulham.
The majority of the eyes were zoned in at Old Trafford as Moyes went up against the side he had managed for 11 years before taking over at United in the summer.
Both teams poured forward in attack during an entertaining end-to-end encounter, with Everton having the last laugh, well towards the end, as Bryan Oviedo, so impressive since taking over from the injured Leighton Baines at left-back, snuck in at the far post to tuck in Romelu Lukaku's cross-shot in the 86th minute.
United and Moyes will perhaps consider themselves unlucky not to have found the target with Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck hitting the woodwork, while Patrice Evra was denied brilliantly by Tim Howard.
Everton, though, gave back as much as they received, with Lukaku a constant menace and the midfielders running behind him profiting with chances of their own.
It was actually quite surprising that it took until four minutes from time for the first goal to come with Oviedo and new manager Roberto Martinez giving Everton something Moyes was not able to do for 11 years at Goodison Park -- their first victory at Old Trafford since 1992.
The loss means United are now a yawning 12 points behind leaders Arsenal, who eased past Hull, the conquerors of Liverpool on Sunday.
The first goal for the Gunners at the Emirates came from an unlikely source, as Nicklas Bendtner - yes this is not a typo -- headed in Carl Jenkinson's cross from the right in just the second minute.
It took a while for Arsenal to get their second goal, as Hull held firm, with the home side doubling their lead two minutes into the second half. Nacho Monreal played in Ozil from the left, with the German playmaker then finding Aaron Ramsey on the edge of the box. Ramsey turned away from the goal, before finding a perfect reverse pass for Ozil to finish with aplomb from ten yards.
The rest of the half was academic as Arsenal saw the second half through without any worries to keep their lead at the top at four points.
At the Stadium of Light, Chelsea came away with a thrilling 4-3 victory as Eden Hazard turned on the style with a brace. Sunderland took the lead through Jozy Altidore in the 14th minute only for Frank Lampard to equalise soon after.
Hazard then struck twice either side of halftime to give Chelsea a 3-2 advantage - John O'Shea scored early in the second half to make it 2-2 - before a Phil Bardsley own goal seemed to make the game safe for the Blues.
However, Bardsley atoned for his discretion by scoring one at the right end as Sunderland refused to relent. But time ran out for the home side, giving Chelsea three points and keeping the Black Cats rock bottom.
Manchester City put behind their away woes to pick up a 3-2 win over West Brom. City were absolutely cruising at 3-0 thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure (2) only for a Costel Pantilimon own goal and a Victor Anichebe strike to give the Baggies a sniff. However, the second goal, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, came a little too late to allow West Brom another crack as City held on.
At Anfield, Suarez added a few million more to his value, scoring four brilliant goals to keep Liverpool seven points adrift of Arsenal. Bradley Johnson struck the consolation goal for Norwich late on, with Raheem Sterling making it 5-1 two minutes from time as the Reds bounced back admirably from the 3-1 loss to Hull.
Rene Meulensteen could not get off to a winning start as manager of Fulham as Spurs came from behind to pull off a 2-1 victory. Ashkan Dejagah had given the home side the lead in the 56th minute at Craven Cottage, but Vlad Chiriches and Lewis Holtby struck for Tottenham in the space of nine minutes to give Spurs a vital victory.
Results: Fulham 1-2 Tottenham; Manchester United 0-1 Everton; Southampton 2-3 Aston Villa; West Brom 2-3 Manchester City; Arsenal 2-0 Hull; Liverpool 5-1 Norwich; Stoke 0-0 Cardiff; Sunderland 3-4 Chelsea; Swansea 3-0 Newcastle.
Tuesday: Crystal Palace 1-0 West Ham.
