Man United, Liverpool run riot; Chelsea win

Shinji Kagawa scored a hat-trick as Manchester United went 15 points

clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League with a 4-0 win over

Norwich at Old Trafford.

The Japan international gave United a 1-0 the

lead on the stroke of half-time after Robin van Persie played him in

following a first half with few chances.

Kagawa then added his

second in the 76th minute before he linked up with Wayne Rooney for his

third, running on to the striker's pass to clip into the roof of the net

in style.

Rooney sealed the comprehensive win with United's

fourth goal in the 90th minute as Sir Alex Ferguson's side pulled even

further clear of rivals Manchester City in the title race.

Luis Suarez netted a hat-trick to fuel Liverpool to a 4-0 win over Wigan

and keep their European hopes alive, but January signing Philippe

Coutinho also caught the eye with a sparkling display that included two

assists.

The Brazilian youngster floated in a lovely cross for

Stewart Downing to head home the opener after just two minutes, before

sending Suarez through 16 minutes later to make it 2-0.

Suarez

then doubled his tally four minutes after the half-hour mark when his

free-kick took a wicked deflection off the head of Shaun Maloney and

crept past Ali Al Habsi, before completing his hat-trick in the 49th

minute with another clever finish.

Demba Ba gave Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez something to smile about as he fired the Blues to a 1-0 win over West Brom at Stamford Bridge.

Benitez

faced flak from Chelsea's own supporters before kick-off and during the

first half after his outburst criticising a section of them following

the midweek cup win at Middlesbrough.

Chelsea went ahead after 26

minutes and held on to move above Tottenham and into third place ahead

of Spurs' derby clash with Arsenal on Sunday.

West Brom conceded a

corner following a brilliant save by goalkeeper Ben Foster, who tipped

David Luiz's 25-yard free-kick around the post.

However, Frank

Lampard delivered a testing corner which picked out Luiz, and the

defender headed the ball into the path of Ba, allowing the striker to

slot home from close range.

Lampard almost scored his 200th goal

for Chelsea when he put Juan Mata's pass into the net only for the

offside flag to be raised.

Marouane Fellaini inspired Everton to a 3-1 win over Reading at Goodison Park.

The

Belgium international climbed to reach Seamus Coleman's cross from the

right wing to head past Royals goalkeeper Jan Mucha in the 42nd minute

before he saw another chance blocked by Ian Harte.

Steven Pienaar

doubled the Toffees' advantage in the second half when he was played in

by Fellaini and fired home from 20 yards just before the hour mark

before Kevin Mirallas added the third.

Hal Robson-Kanu pulled one back for Reading but it was scant consolation.

Elsewhere, Fulham drew 2-2 with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light after the home side fought back from a two-goal deficit.

Dimitar

Berbatov put Fulham ahead with a penalty after Craig Gardner fouled

Ashkan Dejagah before Sascha Riether made it 2-0 to the Cottagers 10

minutes before the break.

Sunderland hit back two minutes later,

though, with Gardner atoning for his earlier mistake when he scored from

the spot at the other end of the pitch after Danny Graham was pulled

back by Philippe Senderos .

Stephane Sessegnon then levelled the score when he pounced on Adam Johnson's deflected cross in the 70th minute.

QPR claimed a much-needed 2-1 win over Southampton at St Mary's on manager Harry Redknapp's birthday but it was not enough to lift them from the foot of the table.

Loic

Remy gave QPR the advantage when Junior Hoilett played a ball over the

top and found the Frenchman, who lifted the ball over goalkeeper Artur

Boruc

Gaston Ramirez levelled the score up at 1-1 with a

close-range shot on the stroke of half-time but Jay Bothroyd put QPR

back in front after the break, moments after goalkeeper Julio Cesar

limped off at the other end.

Swansea claimed a 1-0 win over Newcastle in their first match since their historic Capital One Cup win over Bradford last weekend.

Luke

Moore scored in the 85th minute after Newcastle looked to have held the

upper hand for much of the game with strikers Papiss Cisse and Yoan

Gouffran missing two good scoring chances.

West Ham also triumphed 1-0 against Stoke thanks to substitute Jack Collison.

Collinson,

on for the injured Matt Taylor, put the Hammers ahead in first-half in

injury time when he fired past Asmir Begovic after a good run by Ricardo

Vaz Te.

Saturday's Barclays Premier League Results

Chelsea 1-0 West Brom

Victorious Benitez revels in Bridge atmosphere

Chelsea vs West Brom: Benitez Watch

Everton 3-1 Reading

Reading display gives McDermott belief

Man United 4-0 Norwich

Fergie expects more from 'brilliant' Kagawa

Player Ratings

Southampton 1-2 QPR

Redknapp furious despite QPR victory

Stoke 0-1 West Ham