As United bounced back from Sunday's draw at Swansea, City's three-match winning run came to an end after its former winger, Adam Johnson, gave Sunderland a 1-0 victory over the champions.
Chelsea is now only four points behind City with a game in hand after Juan Mata clinched a 1-0 victory at Norwich.
Tottenham, Everton and West Bromwich Albion are all two points behind Chelsea.
Tottenham moved into the fourth Champions League spot as Gareth Bale scored a second-half hat trick in a 4-0 rout of Aston Villa. Everton beat Wigan 2-1 and West Brom won by the same score at Queens Park Rangers, which sunk back to the bottom.
Reading moved ahead of QPR on goal difference by holding Swansea 0-0, while Southampton remained out the drop zone ahead of Wigan by drawing 1-1 at Fulham.
Newcastle looked like producing its first win at Old Trafford since 1972, but United's fighting spirit can rarely be supressed.