Manchester City 2-0 Portsmouth: Roberto Mancini's side may have lost out to their neighbours in the Carling Cup midweek but their good form under the Italian is expected to continue against crisis-struck Pompey
The big returns in the game include Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor back from the Africa Cup of Nations and David James in the Pompey goal despite speculation that he would have to move club
Adebayor opems the scoring, capitalising on Pompey's broken offside trap and inability to deal with a straight 40-yard ball before slamming the ball past James
The game appears effectively over as a contest when Vincent Kompany heads in a second goal just before the break but hopes of repeating last season's 6-0 win evaporate in a torpid second 45 minutes
Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United: City's Carling Cup victors visit North London as second-place play third with both teams out for the win, lining up 4-3-3
Both teams create chances in an end-to-end opening before Nani beats two men on the right wing, a third in the box and Manuel Almunia's hapless fingertips aid his lofted cross in to the Gunners' net
United get a quick second, a masterclass in counter-attacking, as Wayne Rooney takes the ball forty yards from his own goal, lays it off to Nani, who bursts in to the Arsenal half before sliding it back to Rooney to finish
A neat exchange of passes in their own half allows the Red Devils to slice the home side open once again with Gael Clichy covering three men as Ji-Sung Park runs free this time to score
Andrey Arshavin is under pressure playing out of position at the fulcrum of the Gunners' attack and though he in particular misses chances the entire team is at fault for their sorry performance
And though Arsene Wenger sees his side pull a goal back through Thomas Vermaelen, with a deflection from Wes Brown, he may rue the lack of signing a target man in the January transfer window
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