United, who led through Javier Hernandez's early second-half
goal, were pegged back by Demba Ba's controversial penalty which left Alex
Ferguson's side four points behind City who play at Liverpool on Sunday.
"It was a shocking decision," manager Alex
Ferguson told Sky Sports after defender Rio Ferdinand was penalized for a
tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa. "It cost us."
Tottenham Hotspur, with a
double from Emmanuel Adebayor, stayed third after coming from behind to win 3-1
at West Bromwich Albion while Chelsea emerged from their recent slump to give
under-pressure manager Andre Villas-Boas a huge boost with a 3-0 victory over
Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City have 34 points, followed by Manchester United
on 30, Spurs (28), Newcastle (26) and Chelsea (25).
Franco Di Santo struck a last-gasp winner to lift Wigan
Athletic off the bottom with a 2-1 victory at Sunderland. Blackburn dropped to
the basement after losing 3-1 at Stoke City in the lunchtime kickoff.
United have stumbled at home in this season's Champions
League and after being held to a midweek draw by Benfica, they also found
high-flying Newcastle tough to crack on their return to domestic action, even
when the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Jonas Gutierrez's 79th minute
dismissal.
A fine performance from goalkeeper Tim Krul was overshadowed
by Newcastle's 64th minute equalizer when referee Mike Jones awarded a spot kick
despite Ferdinand seemingly winning the ball fairly from Ben Arfa.
Ba dispatched the penalty, leaving an angry Ferguson to
remonstrate angrily with the match officials.
United, who wasted a host of chances, were also denied by a
late goalline clearance and had a goal ruled out for offside in stoppage time.
Chelsea, who had lost three of their previous four league games
and their last two at home, cruised past Wolves after John Terry, Dean
Sturridge and Juan Mata struck before halftime.
Villas Boas said a crisis meeting had taken place following
Wednesday's Champions League defeat at Bayer Leverkusen which left their
qualification hopes in doubt and his team emphatically responded.
"We have been wanting this performance for some time
now," the Portuguese said.
"It was an important win for us. We were focused in our
tasks." Terry headed in at the back post on seven minutes before
Sturridge, starting up front alongside Didier Drogba with Spain striker
Fernando Torres again left on the bench, added a second and Mata finished well
just before the break.
Spurs made it five successive league wins with a comeback
success at the Hawthorns while in other matches, Everton won 2-0 at Bolton
Wanderers and Norwich beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1.
