United go eight points clear as City lose at Arsenal

Manchester United FC edged closer to a record 20th Premier League title thanks to a 2-0 victory against ten-man Queens Park Rangers FC and rivals Manchester City FC losing 1-0 at Arsenal FC.

Spurred on by the prospect of going eight points clear at the summit, United started strongly against QPR and forged ahead on 15 minutes. Shaun Derry received his marching orders for felling Ashley Young inside the penalty area and Wayne Rooney kept his composure to score his 22nd league goal of the season.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side sealed the win 22 minutes from time thanks to a crisp 25-metre strike from Paul Scholes which found the bottom left-hand corner.

Manchester City could not respond in the afternoon kick-off as they were beaten by Arsenal. It was the hosts who went closest in the first half when Robin van Persie saw his header unintentionally cleared off the line by team-mate Thomas Vermaelen.

Arsène Wenger's side continued to dictate play after the break and hit the post through Van Persie, and they must have thought it was not going to be their day when Theo Walcott's strike was expertly saved by Joe Hart.

However, three minutes from time, Mikel Arteta beat the England No1 with a swerving low drive to lift Arsenal two points above rivals Tottenham Hotspur FC into third. There was still time for Mario Balotelli to pick up a second yellow card and compound a bad day for Roberto Mancini's men.