Bolton: Newcastle United broke out of their recent slump by scoring two goals in a two-minute span in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory over struggling Bolton in the Premier League on Monday.
Hatem Ben Arfa scored his first goal in more than a year in the 69th minute and Demba Ba added the second two minutes later to end a run of five straight losses for the Magpies.
Both sides struggled to create chances in the first half, although Newcastle's Ryan Taylor drew a good save from Jussi Jaaskelainen with a 14th-minute free kick. Bolton nearly took the lead six minutes before half-time, when Martin Petrov's free kick was heading for the bottom corner until Tim Krul thrust out a hand.
Leon Best had the final chance of the half when he was picked out by Ryan Taylor's corner, but he could only manage a glancing header and guided the ball well wide.
Bolton's season was summed up by a sequence of play in the 55th minute. First Robinson found Ngog with a good ball down the left and Klasnic eventually picked up the striker's cross-shot only to trip himself up as he looked to get a shot away.
Bolton looked more of a threat going forward and Petrov lashed an effort just wide of the far post.
But in the 69th minute they went behind as Newcastle at last put together a move of real quality, ending with Taylor crossing for Ben Arfa to crisply volley in only his second goal for the club and his first since September 2010, shortly before he suffered a broken leg against Manchester City.
And two minutes later the game was all but over as poor defending from Paul Robinson let in Obertan down the right and his cross was clipped in by Ba despite the best efforts of Gary Cahill.
It was Ba's 14th goal of the season, and he almost added another moments later but this time Jaaskelainen was quickly off his line to block.
Boos rang out at the final whistle, with the result meaning Bolton stay three points from safety and now only one point above bottom side Blackburn.
In other matches on Monday, Manchester United flourished as Manchester City floundered to wipe out their neighbour's lead in the Premier League title race.
City's were left clinging to top spot on goal difference after their expensively-assembled attacking unit failed to score in the league for the first time this season in a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion.
Injury-hit United took full advantage, with Dimitar Berbatov's hat-trick powering the champions to a second 5-0 rout in a week against Wigan.
"We're really hitting good form now and there's a real goal threat about us from all departments," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "If we're top of the league or joint top with City by New Year's Day, I'll be happy."
Combined with Wednesday's 5-0 thrashing of Fulham, United seem to have shaken off their early Champions League exit earlier this month.
"It was a wake-up call because maybe everyone looked at themselves in the mirror and said, 'We can do much better,'" United defender Patrice Evra said. "What the fans expect of every player, we are doing now."
"If we win and score goals and keep many clean sheets, like we did tonight, we're going to be at the top of the league at the end of the season."
City and United are 10 points ahead of third-placed Tottenham, who play the first of two games in hand at Norwich on Tuesday.
Chelsea are a point further back in fourth and have all but given on up on their title hopes after Fulham condemned their west London rivals to a third consecutive 1-1 draw.
Liverpool, three points behind Chelsea in sixth, failed to seize on Chelsea's slip-up, drawing 1-1 at home to bottom-placed Blackburn.
Meanwhile, Sunderland climbed four points clear of the danger zone with a 1-1 draw at Everton.
Defender Leighton Baines converted a second-half penalty after Sunderland substitute Jack Colback opened the scoring with his first goal for the club in the 26th minute, five minutes after the midfielder came on to replace injured defender Titus Bramble.
The visitors, without the injured Seamus Coleman and Marouane Fellaini, were dominant from the start but failed to convert their chances before falling behind. But after Lee Cattermole gave away a penalty for a foul on Leon Osman, Baines scored from the spot to secure the draw.
Aston Villa and Stoke were both denied by the woodwork as the midlands rivals settled for a 0-0 draw.
Marc Wilson came closest to grabbing a winner for Stoke when his header from a corner in the 69th minute struck the underside of the crossbar before being bundled away on the goalline by Gabriel Agbonlahor. Stoke thought they had scored, but television replays suggested the referee was correct in judging that the entire ball had not crossed the line.
In a first half without many scoring chances, Emile Heskey nearly put Villa ahead in the 21st when his header from a corner struck the left-hand post, with goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen well-beaten.
Heskey was later substituted with a recurrence of his Achilles problem.
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