STOKE, England (AP) — Manchester United resumed their charge to the Premier League title by outclassing Stoke 2-0 yesterday, while Manchester City also closed in on a trophy by beating Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley to reach the FA Cup final.

Robin van Persie ended his two-month goal drought by slotting in a penalty for United on a day of jubilant celebrations involving managers.

The Netherlands striker hugged manager Alex Ferguson and lifted him into the air after converting a 66th-minute spot kick to wrap up a dominant win, sparked by Michael Carrick’s early goal at Britannia Stadium.

“He nearly killed me — he forgets I’m 71,” a smiling Ferguson said. “It was a great celebration as it brought the emotion of the players and the fans together. We really did celebrate that.”

United restored their 15-point lead at the top over City, who have long given up hope of defending the league title. But Roberto Mancini’s team moved closer to salvaging their season by holding off Chelsea in an entertaining FA Cup semi-final after goals from Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero.

City will be a big favourite against Wigan in the final, and a second Cup title in three years would take some of the sting out of surrendering the Premier League to their cross-town rival.

A day after Wigan’s victory over Millwall was marred by infighting between Millwall fans in the stands, the game between City and Chelsea was all about entertaining football, full of free-flowing attacks and missed chances.

Demba Ba pulled Chelsea back into the game with an acrobatic finish in the 66th minute, and manager Rafa Benitez was left fuming over a penalty appeal after Fernando Torres was brought down by Kompany in the area shortly afterward.

The revelry of Van Persie and Ferguson at Stoke was nothing compared to that of exuberant Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio,

who celebrated all three spectacular goals in his team’s vital 3-0 win at north-east rival Newcastle with show-stopping theatrics on the sidelines.

By delivering repeated fist pumps, sliding on his knees and joining in group hugs after goals by Stephan Sessegnon, Adam Johnson and David Vaughan, Di Canio demonstrated the passion and enthusiasm he’s been asked to instill in players for the run-in.

The situation at the bottom is getting increasingly tight. Reading and Queens Park Rangers are all but relegated, and Wigan is third from bottom, three points below Sunderland, Stoke and Aston Villa, but having played two games fewer.

It’s another story at the top.

The way it is heading, United are likely to be celebrating a 13th Premier League title, either at home to Aston Villa, on April 22, or away at Arsenal on April 28, and are on course to match or beat Chelsea’s record haul of 95 points from the 2004-05 season. United have 80.

The win over Stoke was United’s 26th in 32 games and was never in doubt from the moment Carrick prodded in from close range in the fourth minute after a spot of pinball in the penalty area following Van Persie’s in-swinging corner.

With Wayne Rooney prompting play in the unusual position of central midfield, United always carried a threat, but needed Van Persie’s penalty to finally see off Stoke, who have now won just one of their last 14 games.

While Stoke manager Tony Pulis stormed out of his post-match news conference, Ferguson was enjoying a 900th win in nearly 27 years as United manager.

“It’s not so much the points, our responsibility at Manchester United is to go out and win every game,” Ferguson said.