Manchester United's Mata celebrates with Young and Smalling after scoring his team's second goal during their English Premier League soccer match against Stoke City at Old Trafford in Manchester (Photo: Reuters)
Manchester United's revival gathered pace with a fourth successive victory in the Premier League against Stoke on Tuesday, and captain Steven Gerrard came to Liverpool's rescue against Leicester after being restored to the team.
Juan Mata curled in a second-half free kick to give United a 2-1 victory, keeping the 20-time champions in fourth place.
Liverpool, which edged Stoke 1-0 at the weekend, came from behind to beat 10-man Leicester 3-1. After an own goal by Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, Adam Lallana equalized before Gerrard and Jordan Henderson clinched Liverpool's second successive win in the second half.
Liverpool, though, remains five points from the top four in eighth. West Ham remains fifth after fighting back to edge West Brom 2-1, and Swansea is a place behind after beating Queens Park Rangers 2-0.
QPR is only being kept off the bottom by Leicester, while Burnley provisionally climbed out of the relegation zone by drawing 1-1 with Newcastle. Aston Villa claimed its first league victory since September by winning 1-0 at Crystal Palace, with Christian Benteke scoring his first goal in nine months.
The attention returns to the title race on Wednesday when leader Chelsea hosts Tottenham, second-place Manchester City plays at Sunderland and third-place Southampton is at Arsenal.
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