3 things from Saturday's Premier League action: Manchester United capture important away victory

It was business as usual for Manchester City and Chelsea in their respective matches Saturday, while Manchester United continued their dominance over Arsenal and leapfrogged the London club to jump into a Champions League spot after weeks of mediocrity in the middle of the table.

theScore's Gordon Brunt runs down three things from Saturday's Premier League action:

Same old story as Manchester United beat a wasteful Arsenal squad

Manchester United seem to have Arsenal's number, no matter how poor the 13-time Premier League champions appear to be.

However, there was a period Saturday where it looked like Arsenal would end their poor run against United as they dominated the match and looked like a legitimate threat to score the opening goal.

Desperate to score against his former team, Danny Welbeck had one of the better chances of the first half for Arsenal when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's through ball found the striker but his effort on goal was turned away by the Spanish 'keeper.

The second half was a completely different story as the Gunners were made to pay for their wasteful opportunities shortly after losing Jack Wilshere to an apparent ankle injury.

A cross into the Arsenal box saw Kieran Gibbs and 'keeper Wojciech Szczesny collide in mid-air, sending both men tumbling to the ground as the ball bounced towards a surging Antonio Valencia. The Ecuadorian didn't hesitate as he fired a shot towards goal, inspiring Gibbs, still on the ground, to block the shot. His attempt at heroic was costly and the ball ultimately ended up the Arsenal net for an own goal.

Szczesny was subsequently removed from the game because of an injury and Arsenal went into desperation mode, pushing their players up the pitch in an effort to find an equaliser.

This attempt to overcome the deficit led to United's second tally as Angel Di Maria and Wayne Rooney found themselves on the counter-attack with one defender in their way. Di Maria slid the ball across to Rooney and the United captain delivered a clever chip over the 'keeper.

Olivier Giroud added a consolation goal that briefly inspired hope around the stadium, but the full-time whistle was blown and Arsenal find themselves in uncharted territory.

Chelsea dump West Brom, maintain lead atop Premier League

Chelsea strolled to victory Saturday, claiming a 2-0 win against West Brom in a match that looked like it was going to be ugly for the Midlands club.

First half goals from Diego Costa and Eden Hazard led some to believe the rout was on, especially after West Brom went down a man when Claudio Yacob was sent off for a cynical challenge.

Chelsea, however, appeared to take mercy on their opponents and cruised to victory at Stamford Bridge.

The win increases their lead atop the standings to seven points through 12 matches.

Yaya Toure helps Manchester City edge past Swansea City

It was a vintage performance from Yaya Toure as the Manchester City midfielder's second half goal secured three points for the league's defending champions.

City, however, suffered a scare in the first half when Wilfried Bony's superb goal gave the visitors a surprising advantage inside the game's first 10 minutes.

The lead didn't last long for the Welsh side as Stevan Jovetic pulled one back after slotting the ball home from close-range.

City dominated possession in this one and finally broke through in the second half when Toure's surging run through the Swansea defence saw the Ivorian connect with Fernandinho's backheel into the box and smack the ball past the 'keeper for the game-winning goal.

The result keeps City's title dreams alive as they sit eight points back of Chelsea, with a critical Premier League fixture on the horizon against Southampton, who hold a one-point lead with a game in hand.