LONDON - Man City's title hope was nearly shattered on Sunday when Mikel Arteta's late goal propelled Arsenal to 1-0 victory over them and indirectly helped the Premier League leader Manchester United move eight points clear at the top with six games left.

Arsenal's Alex Song challenges Manchester City's James Milner during their English Premier League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London April 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Boosted by a fanatic 60,000-attendance crowd at the Emirates Stadium, the "Gunners" dominated the game when captain Robin Van Persie had two clear headers in each half only seeing one of them blocked by teammate Thomas Vermaelen and the other rejected by the post.

Arteta inked the 1-0 victory three minutes from time when the Spanish holding midfielder struck the ball near the area to the dead corner, beating the England No. 1 keeper Joe Hart and also the suppressed visitor.

The defeat left City eight points adrift of the rival United, who had seen off the relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers with 2-0 home victory half an hour earlier than the London clash.

Man United opened the scoring with a controversial penalty after 15 minutes when QPR's Shaun Derry was sent off with a direct red card for fouling Ashley Young.

But the replays showed the host's winger was offside before he was illegally challenged by Derry. Wayne Rooney wasted no chance to fire home.

After the breakthrough, the red devils were clearly the better side. They dominated the game with 24 shots in total, bettering the visitor's nine times.

The veteran Paul Scholes made sure of the three points for the host of Old Trafford when he delivered a 25-yard strike to boost his side to their eighth straight league win.

After this round clashes, Man United stood firmly in the title race, approaching a record 20th top-flight trophy of England football leagues.

While Man City, who occupied the top in most part of this season, has lost initiative in their race for the first top-flight league title since 1968.