( CNN ) -- Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez began 2013 as they ended the old year by grabbing two goals apiece as Manchester United won 4-0 at Wigan Tuesday to stay top of the English Premier League by seven points . Mexico 's Hernandez , who scored the crucial Boxing Day winner in the 4-3 victory over Newcastle , grabbed the opener and the third for United at the DW Stadium . Van Persie , the key summer signing for United , made it 19 for the season for his new side , with 16 coming in the EPL , the leading tally . Hernandez , taking his share of responsibility in the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney , tapped home a 35th minute opener after Ali Al Habsi saved from Patrice Evra . Dutch ace van Persie scored the second eight minutes later , fielding a pass from Hernandez before curling the ball home . Hernandez added a third just after the hour mark with a neat finish before van Persie took advantage of slack defending with two minutes to go . It was United 's eighth win in their last nine EPL matches and manager Alex Ferguson is delighted by his new acquisition . `` Van Persie 's first goal was magnificent . We expected him to be a major player and add something to us , and that 's exactly what he 's done , '' he told BBC Sport . Defending champions Manchester City kept pace with a 3-0 home win over Stoke City , with Pablo Zabaleta , Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero on target against a team who had been on a 10-match unbeaten run . But Argentina 's Aguero limped off with a hamstring injury after converting a second half penalty . He is likely to be sidelined for about two weeks , said the club . Tottenham Hotspur continued their recent strong run with a 3-1 home win over struggling Reading . Pavel Pogrebnyak gave Reading a surprise fourth minute lead but Michael Dawson canceled it out five minutes later . Togo star Emmanuel Adebayor and American international Clint Dempsey scored in the second half as Spurs went a point clear of Chelsea , who are at home to QPR Wednesday . In other matches , Aston Villa put a half to their alarming slide with a 2-2 draw at Swansea , the home side grabbing a point through Danny Graham 's injury time equalizer . Dimitar Berbatov scored the opener as Fulham returned to winning ways with a 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion in the early kick off , while West Ham saw off Norwich 2-1 . Arsenal , who hit seven at home to Newcastle last Saturday , could not repeat the magic at Southampton where they were held 1-1 in the late kick off . Gaston Ramirez took advantage of poor defending to put the Saints ahead in the 34th minute . Theo Walcott , who scored a hat-trick in their big win , took the free kick which led to a Guly do Prado own goal before half time , but Arsenal could not force a victory and lost ground in the race for a Champions League place .
Manchester Utd beat Stoke to stay seven points clear in Wigan 4-0 . Second placed Manchester City ease past Stoke to keep pace . Manchester Utd back into Second spot with seven -1 home win over Reading . Arsenal held at Southampton in late kick off on New Year 's Day .