Sunderland boss Gustavo Poyet fumed at Wes Brown's astonishing red card in their 2-0 defeat at Stoke City.
Trailing the hosts following Charlie Adam's opener, the Mackems' woe was compounded by Kevin Friend's bewildering decision to dismiss Brown for a clean tackle. Steven Nzonzi ended the contest with nine minutes remaining to give Stoke a first League win in almost three months.
Martin Jol's future at Fulham looks even bleaker after their latest home defeat, as substitute Jonjo Shelvey 80th minute winner gave Swansea City a 2-1 triumph at Craven Cottage.
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Aaron Hughes' own goal gave the Swans the lead before Scott Parker levelled eight minutes later, prior to Shelvey's strike. The Cottagers remain in the bottom three, with just one home win all season.
Arsenal's match with Southampton was delayed by 15 minutes due to a delay on the Piccadilly line, and Artur Boruc's goalkeeping was as infuriating as the underground.
The Southampton goalkeeper's attempt to dribble past Olivier Giroud was comical, as the Frenchamn robbed the ball off the custodian to give Arsenal the lead on 22 minutes. Giroud's 86th minute penalty confirmed Arsenal's win, and they are now four points clear of Liverpool.
New Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis will have been buoyed by an unlikely win for the Eagles at Hull City. Barry Bannan's first goal in nearly two years gave Keith Millen a winning end to his caretaker stint in charge, despite Yannick Bolasie's red card.
Only Palace's second win of the campaign, they are now unbeaten in two, having drawn with Everton a fortnight ago.
Frenchmen Loïc Rémy and Yoan Gouffran were on the scoresheet in Newcastle United's third successive League win.
Leroy Fer gave Norwich a glimmer of hope with 10 minutes remaining at St James's Park, but the Magpies held on for a 2-1 victory to move above Manchester City and up to eighth in the table.
And in the game of the day, Everton and Liverpool drew the Merseyside derby 3-3 at lunchtime.