Manchester United crushed Newcastle United 6-2 to maintain their title assault while Sunderland became the first side relegated from the English premier league on Saturday.
United produced an outstanding display of attacking football to demolish third-placed Newcastle at St James' Park, moving three points ahead of Arsenal as their bid for an eighth title in 11 seasons shows no signs of faltering.
United, unbeaten in their last 13 league games and winners of the last five with a goal tally of 16-3, now have 70 points from 33 matches, three more than Arsenal (32 matches), who they meet at Highbury on Wednesday.
But at the other end of the table, Sunderland succumbed to the inevitable.
Their 10th straight league defeat, 2-0 at Birmingham, condemned them to first division football next season after four years in the top flight.
They look set to go down with a record low number of premier league points and goals and Saturday's defeat also gave them a club record run of 15 games without a win.
While it was a grim day for Newcastle and Sunderland in the North East, it was a glorious one for Manchester United who were imperious in their lunchtime game at St James' Park.
A Paul Scholes hat-trick and goals by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy wiped out a fierce early strike from Newcastle midfielder Jermaine Jenas. United's opening four goals came in a 12-minute blitz just before half-time, which left Newcastle dazed and confused.
United, playing without the injured David Beckham, inflicted only Newcastle's second home defeat of the season and ended the Magpies' already faint hopes of winning the title for the first time since 1927.
United will meet Arsenal at Highbury as league leaders with the Gunners concentrating on their FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford against Sheffield United on Sunday.
"It was a great confidence booster and sets us up nicely for what is the biggest game of the season now against Arsenal," said United manager Alex Ferguson.
"To predict how the title race will finish is foolish at any time of the season, it is really down to ourselves now," he added.
Apart from the match at St James' Park, attention was mainly focused on the bottom of the table, with five clubs effectively part of the scramble to avoid the drop.
Sunderland's relegation has long been inevitable, but it was rubber-stamped at St Andrews where Birmingham, not yet entirely safe themselves, won 2-0 through goals by Bryan Hughes (43) and Christophe Dugarry (60) -- the Frenchman's first goal for the Blues. Sunderland striker Marcus Stewart was sent off late in the game.
That result lifted Birmingham to 38 points and relative safety -- but Bolton Wanderers (35 points), West Ham (32) and West Bromwich (21) are all still desperate for points.
West Brom look certain to join Sunderland shortly as they failed to improve on their meagre tally. They would have been relegated along with Sunderland if both Bolton and Birmingham had won, but Bolton's defeat at Chelsea granted them a stay of execution.
However, Albion did score for the first time in 418 minutes when an 18th-minute Igor Balis penalty gave them a 1-0 lead over Everton, but the visitors struck back to win 2-1 thanks to first-half goals from David Weir (23) and Kevin Campbell (45).
West Ham moved 11 points clear of West Brom on to 32 points thanks to their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at Upton Park -- but they remain in the drop zone because they started the day four points behind the two clubs immediately above them, Birmingham and Bolton.
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