Carlos Tevez kept alive Manchester City's slim hopes of retaining their Premier League title with a first-half winner at relegation-threatened Aston Villa.
Tevez, who replaced knee injury victim Sergio Aguero, broke the deadlock in first-half injury-time after a mistake by Villa defender Ciaran Clark.
Victory again cut runaway leaders Manchester United's advantage to a still formidable 12 points with only 10 games remaining.
It also moved Roberto Mancini's side five points clear of in-form Tottenham, but Villa's seventh home reverse of the season means they remain in the bottom three.
NEWCASTLE (10pts to reach 40)
Stoke City (H)
Wigan Athletic (A)
Manchester City (A)
Fulham (H)
Sunderland (H)
WBA (A)
Liverpool (H)
West Ham Utd (A)
QPR (A)
Arsenal (H)
QPR (20pts needed)
Sunderland (H)
Aston Villa (A)
Fulham (A)
Wigan Athletic (H)
Everton (A)
Stoke City (H)
Reading (A)
Arsenal (H)
Newcastle Utd (H)
Liverpool (A)
READING (17pts needed)
Aston Villa (H)
Man Utd (A)
Arsenal (A)
Southampton (H)
Liverpool (H)
Norwich (A)
QPR (H)
Fulham (A)
Man City (H)
West Ham (A)
ASTON VILLA (16pts needed)
Reading (A)
QPR (H)
Liverpool (H)
Stoke (A)
Fulham (H)
Man Utd (A)
Sunderland (H)
Norwich (A)
Chelsea (H)
Wigan (A)
WIGAN (16pts needed)
Man City (A)
Newcastle (H)
Norwich (H)
QPR (A)
Swansea (H)
West Ham (A)
Tottenham (H)
West Brom (A)
Arsenal (A)
Aston Villa (H)
SUNDERLAND (10pts needed)
QPR (A)
Norwich (H)
Man Utd (H)
Chelsea (A)
Newcastle (A)
Everton (H)
Aston Villa (A)
Stoke (H)
Southampton (H)
Tottenham (A)
SOUTHAMPTON (13pts needed)
Norwich (A)
Liverpool (H)
Chelsea (H)
Reading (A)
West Ham (H)
Swansea (A)
West Brom (H)
Tottenham (A)
Sunderland (A)
Stoke (H)