Premiership round-up: Manchester United beat Portsmouth 3-0 to make sure it was a happy anniversary for manager Alex Ferguson.
The Scot will have been in charge at Old Trafford for 20 years on Monday - and goals from Louis Saha (penalty), Cristiano Ronaldo and Nemanja Vidic made sure of a comfortable success.
United were on top from the moment Saha coolly opened the scoring from the spot after referee Mike Dean had adjudged Dejan Stefanovic to have fouled Wayne Rooney.
Things went from bad to worse for Pompey seven minutes later when Ronaldo scored direct from a free-kick to make it 2-0.
And the scoring was completed in the 65th minute when Vidic rose unopposed to power home Gary Neville's curling cross.
Fourth-placed Pompey's hopes were done few favours by the absence of influential central defender Sol Campbell, who was forced to pull out with a virus.
Dirk Kuyt netted twice as Liverpool - 11 points off the pace at the start of today's action - defeated Reading 2-0 at Anfield.
Steven Gerrard crossed from the left in the 14th minute, England team-mate Peter Crouch nodded the ball down and the unmarked Kuyt netted.
And the points were safe in the 73rd minute when the Dutch international striker tapped in at the far post after Hahnamann had fumbled Crouch's header from a Jermaine Pennant corner.
Watford picked up their first win of the season at the seventh attempt - 2-0 against Middlesbrough - to move out of the relegation zone.
Adrian Boothroyd's Hornets took a sixth-minute lead in fortuitous circumstances.
Boro defender Jonathan Woodgate headed Gavin Mahon's long throw into the path of Hameur Bouazza, and watched in dismay as the Frenchman's shot from 20 yards - which was going wide - deflected off him and sneaked inside Schwarzer's right post.
And Watford were on their way to victory when George Boateng carelessly headed a loose ball back towards his own goal, and Ashley Young nipped in to finish confidently from 18 yards for his fourth goal of the season.
At The Valley, Darren Bent's 29th-minute header from a Jerome Thomas gave Charlton a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
City had plenty of late pressure and substitute Hatem Trabelsi shot against the post with five minutes remaining - but Iain Dowie's side held on to move off the bottom of the table.
Lee McCulloch's right-foot finish proved decisive at The Reebok, with Wigan scoring a 1-0 win at Bolton's expense.
In the first half, Bolton's Stelios Giannakopoulos could count himself unfortunate to see a 'goal' cancelled out for offside just before the break.
In today's early kick-off, Fulham defeated Everton 1-0 at Craven Cottage, with Claus Jensen's 66th-minute goal - which took a big deflection off Toffees midfielder Lee Carsley - subjecting the visitors to only their second defeat of the campaign.