Chelsea were held and Newcastle United and Liverpool humbled on a day of surprises in the Premier League on Saturday when the lesser lights enjoyed some unexpected success against the more established teams.
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley said on Sunday he had put the Premier League club up for sale after falling foul of the fans following coach Kevin Keegan's resignation.
The 52-year-old, who had already admitted a misconduct charge prior to Tuesday's personal FA hearing, will be banned from stadiums for the first three matches and he will be barred from the touchline for the remaining four.
The midfielder was granted bail but with strict conditions and ordered to reappear in court on January 16.
Speaking at a news conference in Newcastle, his club manager Sam Allardyce said the striker had suffered a torn thigh muscle and also had a suspected weakness in his stomach area which may require surgery.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Kevin Keegan said on Thursday he was returning to Newcastle United as manager, 11 years after leaving, because he still had "unfinished business" at the club.
Alan Pardew suffered the ignominy of becoming the first Newcastle United manager to lose four successive Tyne-Wear derbies against Sunderland after Adam Johnson's late goal subjected his team to more misery against their arch-rivals.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Newcastle United were thrashed 5-1 by second divison leaders Birmingham City in their FA Cup third round replay on Wednesday at St James's Park.
Newcastle United gained immediate promotion back to the English Premier League without playing on Monday after Nottingham Forest's failure to beat Cardiff City in the Championship (second division).
Chelsea missed their chance to slash Manchester United's lead in the Premier League to a single point on Sunday when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Newcastle United.
An early Peter Crouch goal gave Stoke City a 1-0 home win against Newcastle United in the Premier League on Monday to pile more pressure onto beleaguered Toon boss Alan Pardew.
Albert Luque steered Newcastle to the top of UEFA Cup Group H when he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Palermo on Thursday.
Manchester United opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League even as rivals Man City suffered a shocking reverse at Sunderland on the Boxing Day.
Liverpool kept alive their hopes of Champions League football next season with a comfortable 2-0 Premier League victory on Monday against a Newcastle United side who finished with 10 men.
Alan Shearer broke Newcastle United's goal-scoring record in a 2-0 home win over fellow strugglers Portsmouth.
A summary of Sunday's Premier League matches
League leaders Chelsea and Liverpool however won their matches in the Premier League.
IMAGES from Premier League matches played on Saturday.
The victory lifted Newcastle up to 10th place in the Premier League. West Brom stay 17th.
Newcastle United's Papiss Cisse has gatecrashed the Premier League in spectacular style and his second strike in Wednesday's win at Chelsea could sneak in as a goal of the season contender, especially given its potential importance.
Arsenal, who fired Unai Emery as manager last week and appointed former player Freddie Ljungberg as caretaker boss, now sit 10th in the table on 19 points, with Brighton a single point behind and three places below them.
Liverpool's Raheem Sterling netted a sharply-taken double in a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Wednesday to set up a League Cup semi-final with Chelsea.
Arsenal took the race to the final day last season and are strongly tipped to end Manchester City's dominance this time.
Last season's UEFA Cup semi-finalists marched into the last 32 with their third successive win in the group stage.
Newcastle United continued their push for Europa League football next season when two excellent goals from Papiss Cisse and a superb strike from Hatem ben Arfa gave them a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.
Newcastle United's charge towards Champions League qualification gathered pace on Saturday with a 3-0 home win over Stoke City which moved them into fourth spot in the Premier League as rivals Arsenal and Chelsea could only draw 0-0.
Arsenal closed the gap on leaders Liverpool with a 2-1 Premier League victory at Nottingham Forest
Manchester United were given an early scare at Newcastle United on Wednesday before hitting back for a 2-1 victory that restored their seven-point cushion at the top of the English Premier League. Fourth-placed Aston Villa's Champions League ambitions were dealt a blow with a 2-0 loss at Manchester City while Stoke City climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. West Ham United won 1-0 at Wigan Athletic.
The 28-year-old Dutch international signed a three-year deal with the Premiership side.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Newcastle United were left deep in relegation trouble after being held to a goalless draw at home to Portsmouth in a tense Premier League match on Monday. With four matches left to play, Newcastle remain in the drop zone with 31 points, although the draw was enough to move them ahead of Middlesbrough on goal difference and up to 18th place.
"We are all hopeful that the surgery I have had will ensure I don't have any repeat of the condition in the future."
Demba Ba scored a hat-trick as Newcastle United continued their impressive start to the season with a deserved 3-1 win at Stoke City in the Premier League on Monday.
Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications on Monday said news reports that it was acquiring the English Premier League club Newcastle United for an estimated 260 million pounds were false and baseless.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Thierry Henry scored twice in a 3-2 victory in the English premiership.
Newcastle United, playing with 10 men for 75 minutes, earned a spirited 2-2 draw with Manchester City at St James' Park.
