Arsenal claimed second place in the Barclays Premiership with a 3-0 win over Blackburn while Wigan lost 2-1 at Tottenham.
After an impeccably observed minute's silence in honour of George Best, the Gunners were given a good start by Cesc Fabregas.
The Spaniard collected a loose ball on the edge of the Blackburn box before passing the ball into the visitors' net in the fourth minute.
Rovers had their chances with Arsenal's centre-half partnership of Kolo Toure and Sol Campbell only just coping with some clever running by Mark Hughes' side.
However, the home side held out until a beautifully judged through-ball by Robert Pires released Thierry Henry down the Arsenal left.
The France striker surged into the Blackburn box before sliding the ball beyond Brad Friedel in the 45th minute. And Robin van Persie netted a late third in the 90th minute.
It moved them a point above Wigan, who did not recover after falling behind to an eighth-minute goal from Robbie Keane.
Arjan de Zeeuw struggled to deal with Teemu Tainio's long ball out of defence and Keane pounced as the Dutchman dallied, firing past Michael Pollitt in the Wigan goal.
Keane thought he should have had a penalty on the half-hour mark when his turn in the box prompted Wigan defender Stephane Henchoz to throw his arms around the Republic of Ireland striker.
However, referee Mike Riley waved away the Spurs appeals.
Edgar Davids made sure of the victory with his first goal in English football in the 77th minute before Lee McCulloch pulled a goal back for the visitors two minutes before the end of normal time.
Liverpool battled their way to a 1-0 win at Manchester City which moved them into contention for the Champions League places.
The visitors were given the lead in the 61st minute when Steven Gerrard played in John Arne Riise and the Norwegian battered the ball into the roof of the City net.
Birmingham won the meeting between the Premier League's bottom two sides with substitute Julian Gray scoring the only goal of the game against Sunderland after 68 minutes at the Stadium of Light.
Defeat leaves Sunderland with just five points from 14 games and a four-point deficit to Birmingham, who remain second bottom.
Steven Davis scored his fifth goal of the season from the Aston Villa midfield in the 69th minute of his side's 1-0 win over Charlton.
There was a suggestion that visiting goalkeeper Stephan Andersen had been fouled by Kevin Phillips in the build-up, although all the Denmark international earned was a yellow card for his protests.