PLUS: Arsenal keep their title wagon rolling, Manchester City fight back to win at Watford and West Ham see off Liverpool
Wayne Rooney grabbed the winner against Swansea with a deft heel flick to ease the pressure on Louis van GaaL.
Elsewhere, there were wins from Arsenal and Manchester City, with Sergio Aguero coming back to form to head the winner at Watford.
West Ham and Andy Carroll saw off Liverpool at Upton Park while Chelsea stepped up their revival at Palace.
Here are 10 things we learned from the Premier League weekend.
1) Klopp effect dissolving into stark reality
The goalkeeper and defence are not good enough. Daniel Sturridge was yet again unavailable.
Lucas was outgunned in midfield by the greater industry of Kouyate and Noble and Firmino at the moment is an expensive disappointment.
Liverpool will not finish in the top four unless deal with at least some of those issues - starting with their problems in defence.
By Darren Lewis
2) Cech worth his wait in gold
I’m not sure how you work it out, but Cech made so many good saves that you begin to wonder whether he’s worth more than three in a single game.
Cech denied Georginio Wijnaldum three times with super saves. How Chelsea let him go is anyone’s guess. But Arsenal are glad they did.
By John Cross
3) Change of system pays off for United
Having ditched playing with three at the back at the start of his United tenure, Van Gaal returned to that approach here, albeit one with a twist, his players lining up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, which brought the best out of Young and Martial, operating higher up the pitch.
United reverted to a flat back-four after the break, but Young continued to push higher up the pitch on the right, providing the delivery for the all-important breakthrough goal.
By David McDonnell
4) Defoe is Sunderland's bright spark
But the winner he delivered here was priceless – and a piece of strike brilliance.
Defoe collected a ball from Adam Johnson and teased Joleon Lescott 12 yards out. Then came the classic Defoe shimmy, moving the ball left and blasting home a shot just inside the near post.
That made it eight goals for the season before he added his ninth late on.
Allardyce has to persevere with Defoe up front. He's their match winner.
By Simon Bird
5) Ranieri is still the 'Tinkerman'
And when it was 0-0 at the break Ulloa was withdrawn and Riyad Mahrez pushed upfront alongside Vardy.
By James Nursey
6) Norwich in danger but Saints must be careful
They are still seven points clear of the drop zone and probably need to only conjure four more victories to be safe.
I think Norwich will stay up but, if you reckon Villa and Sunderland are down, they are in the mix for that final spot and need to keep winning at home.
By Neil McLeman
7) Berahino impressing nobody
It's what you get for being sulky in training I guess.
Will Spurs still be interested in him for £20million at this rate?
By John Wragg
8) Sterling devalued again
It is not his fault he has been saddled with a £49 million price tag, but away from home especially he needs to put himself about a bit more.
Allan Nyom tested Sterling's mettle with a robust early challenge and, not to put too fine a point on it, he didn't fancy it.
By Mike Walters
9) Mikel is trusted again
Rather than drop Mikel to accommodate the returning Cesc Fabregas against Crystal Palace, it was Nemanja Matic who made way. Hiddink clearly trusts Mikel, one of three surviving players from his first interim reign, and likes the solidity, simplicity hand discipline he brings to Chelsea's midfield.
And by giving him a second start at Selhurst Park, Mikel has now made as many league starts in two weeks under Hiddink as he did in half a season under Jose Mourinho.
He repaid Hiddink with a masterclass in midfield to earn the acclaim of the travelling fans.
By Adrian Kajumba
10) 2016 promises to be a big year for Alli
He will have a big part to play in Tottenham's push for glory over the second half of the season and should also have a big summer at Euro 2016.
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