Reigning champions Manchester United's 4-1 derby defeat away to Manchester City left them 12 points behind leaders Arsenal, who have a nine point advantage over second-placed Chelsea.

Meanwhile Charlton retained the fourth and last Champions League spot available to English clubs after Newcastle lost 1-0 away to Tottenham and Liverpool were beaten 2-0 against Southampton, Paul Sturrock's first match in charge of the Saints ending in ideal fashion.

Charlton were left a point ahead of Newcastle and four points clear of eighth-placed Liverpool who have a game in hand over their Euro rivals.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa's 4-0 thrashing of relegation-threatened Wolves catapulted them into seventh spot, just three points behind Charlton.

Goals from Robbie Fowler and former United trainee Jon Macken put City 2-0 up against United at the City of Manchester Stadium before Paul Scholes pulled one back for United.

But second-half strikes from Trevor Sinclair and Shaun Wright-Phillips sealed City's victory.

The result completed a miserable week for United after they crashed out of the Champions League to Porto leaving their FA Cup semi-final with holders Arsenal as their last best hope of a trophy this season.

"It was a disappointing second half," said United manager Alex Ferguson.

"We've given away two goals from a long throw in and a free kick."

The Scot admitted it would be "very difficult" to overhaul Arsenal's lead with just 10 games left but said: "The most important thing is to get our form back."

Meanwhile City boss Kevin Keegan was understandably elated.

"I was really proud of the team. We played better against Chelsea last week and didn't get a result," said the former England coach.

"All over the field we had players who, though, they will have better days they won't have a better attitude."

At Southampton, Liverpool striker Michael Owen missed a penalty which would have levelled the match at 1-1.

But instead Saints man-of-the-match keeper Antti Niemi piled on the spot-kick misery for Owen who last month had another penalty saved along the south coast at Portsmouth's Fratton Park when Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup.

Second-half goals either side of that miss from England strikers James Beattie and Kevin Phillips wrapped up the points for Southampton.

Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier slammed the officials for allowing Beattie's opening goal.

"The turning point was when the linesman made a mistake. It was definitely offside," insisted the Frenchman.

And he added that Owen would remain the club's spot-kick specialist.

"He's still my penalty-taker. I'm stubborn, I like the guy. I'll stick with him."

Meanwhile, former Plymouth boss Sturrock, successor to fellow Scot Gordon Strachan, admitted: "We rode our luck. Our goalie kept us in it. I hope we don't get all our breaks in one game."

Andy O'Brien's own goal at White Hart Lane gave Spurs a 1-0 victory over Newcastle, something of a rarity for their fans this season.

Even more surprising, given the recent goal glut at their north London home, supporters had to wait until the 86th minute before the luckless O'Brien put through his own net.

At Molineux, Colombia striker Juan Pablo Angel scored twice as visitors Villa thumped Wolves. The game was over as contest in the 24th minute after Thomas Hitzlsperger, Olof Mellberg and Angel had all netted.

Villa manager David O'Leary said it was vital the club retained Angel whose 59th minute second goal took his tally for the season to 20 in all competitions.

"I'm sure everyone at Villa wants him to stay and he knows that I want him to stay."

Wolves' defeat left them just two points ahead of basement club Leeds and level with fellow strugglers Portsmouth.

"We didn't win any battles and they played better than us by far," said Wolves boss Dave Jones. "But we've just got to be honest about it and admit that not one of us did our job properly."