Ten-man Chelsea rallied from a goal down on Sunday to beat West Ham 4-1 in the English Premier League, and Manchester United stayed seven points behind with a 2-0 win over Arsenal.
Liverpool kept up its chase for second place with a 1-0 win over Bolton, while Aston Villa drew 0-0 with fellow struggler West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle beat Middlesbrough 2-1.
Chelsea was a man and a goal down after 17 minutes at Stamford Bridge after James Collins' 10th-minute goal and Maniche's sending off for a mistimed tackle on defender Lionel Scaloni.
PHOTO: AFP
"A direct red card must be a 101 percent red card and from the position I was it didn't look like that to me," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said.
However, Chelsea quickly led with two goals in four minutes.
Didier Drogba leveled in the 28th, taking a throughball from Frank Lampard and scoring on a rebound after his first was blocked by Collins. Drogba then set up Chelsea's second goal with a cross that deflected across goal to Hernan Crespo, who scored past goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.
The Premier League leaders went up 3-1 in the 54th through John Terry, who scored off a rebound when William Gallas' shot hit the bar. Gallas then made it 4-1 in the 69th, tapping the ball in from close range.
"We had no fear of playing with 10 men and dominated the game. The character of the players was unbelievable," Mourinho said. "We are champions and we can be again in a couple of weeks. Even if Manchester United win every game we have the conditions to win it again."
Chelsea has 82 points with six games left, followed by Manchester United with 75 and Liverpool with 70. In the fight for fourth -- and the final Champions League qualification spot -- Tottenham has 58 points, followed by Blackburn with 54 and Arsenal with 53.
Wayne Rooney scored for Manchester United in the 54th and Park Ji-sung added the second in the 78th. Arsenal, which had striker Thierry Henry on the bench to start, is now sixth but has played a game less.
Arsenal plays Villarreal in the semifinals of the Champions League later this month. If it wins the tournament and finishes fifth or lower, the fourth-place team in the Premier League will get bumped down to the UEFA Cup.
At Anfield, Liverpool won its sixth successive game. Robbie Fowler scored his 11th goal in 12 matches against Bolton on his 31st birthday. He scored from 12m after getting a half-volleyed cross from Peter Crouch in first-half injury time.
"With Spurs and Arsenal having to play each other, it means we probably only need one more win to make sure of a top-four finish," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. "We are very close now to securing third place, with second still something we have as a possibility."
At the Riverside stadium, Newcastle went ahead when George Boateng scored an own-goal in the 29th minute. Shola Ameobi made it 2-0 in the 44th.
Boateng pulled a goal back for Middlesbrough in the 79th minute. Middlesbrough plays Charlton in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup on Wednesday.
Aston Villa was missing six first-team players and relied on goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen and its defenders.
West Brom manager Bryan Robson said his side was denied two penalties for handball.
"We played terrifically and to dominate like we did and not take the three points is a blow," Robson said. "But the officials didn't help us. I've looked at the video replays and both penalty decisions were handball."
West Brom stayed 19th with 28 points, the same as 18th-place Portsmouth. Aston Villa is 16th with 36 points.
On Saturday, Tottenham beat Manchester City 2-1, while Sunderland's struggle to stay in the Premier League was paused when its game with Fulham was abandoned after 21 minutes because of a waterlogged field.
Fulham was leading 1-0 at last-place Sunderland through Brian McBride's ninth-minute goal and the game will be replayed at a date yet to be determined.
Also Saturday, Charlton and Everton drew 0-0, Wigan and Birmingham drew 1-1, and Blackburn drew 2-2 with relegation-threatened Portsmouth.
Shunsuke Nakamura scored twice Sunday to help Celtic to a 4-1 win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League.
It was Celtic's 11th consecutive victory and its first game since winning a fourth Scottish league title in six seasons on Wednesday.
Nakamura scored with a free kick after eight minutes and added the other in the 82nd. John Hartson scored his 19th goal of the season in the 64th and Dion Dublin made it 4-0 in the 84th. Colin Nish scored a consolation goal for Kilmarnock in the 89th.
Forty-time champion Celtic has 85 points, 20 more than Hearts and 23 more than city rival Rangers.
Racing Santander held league leader FC Barcelona to a 2-2 draw, despite first-half goals from Henrik Larsson and Samuel Eto'o.
Barcelona, which played without the injured Ronaldinho, leads the league by 11 points and needs eight points from its six remaining games to win its 18th title.
Antonito Ramiro and Oscar Serrano scored before halftime for host Santander at El Sardinero stadium, while Barcelona captain Carles Puyol was ejected in injury time.
"We had to work hard to get a draw," Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard was quoted as saying by news agency Efe. "Racing played well and showed a great attitude."
In other games, Achille Webo and Savo Milosevic scored to give fourth-place Osasuna a 2-1 win over struggling Alaves, Sevilla drew 1-1 with Zaragoza, and Villarreal drew 1-1 with Deportivo La Coruna.
Barcelona leads the league with 70 points, followed by Valencia and Real Madrid with 59. Osasuna has 58 points, with Sevilla on 52 and Celta 51.
Alessandro Del Piero returned from injury and scored a second-half goal to give Juventus a 1-1 draw with visiting Fiorentina in the Serie A.
Juve's third straight draw kept it seven points clear of second-place AC Milan with five rounds left.
Del Piero's 62nd-minute equalizer helped Juve avoid its second loss of the season. It was his 193rd career goal with Juventus, and his 11th this season.
At San Siro, Kaka scored a second-half hat trick to lead AC Milan to a 4-1 win over Chievo Verona and into second place.
Rebounding from last weekend's loss at Lecce, the Milan club moved to 73 points, two clear of city rival Inter Milan -- which had taken second place Saturday with a 2-1 win at Ascoli.
Hamburger SV put the pressure on leader Bayern Munich, closing to within four points after a 2-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Rafael van der Vaart scored the first goal from the spot in the 34th minute and Naohiro Takahara added another in injury time as Hamburg celebrated coach Thomas Doll's 40th birthday with a win that reopened the title race.
Two weeks ago, Bayern held a 10-point lead.
Werder Bremen dealt Bayern its second straight loss Saturday, winning 3-0 and leaving the leaders with 66 points with five rounds to play.
Hamburg has 62 points while Bremen has 59.
Fourth-place Schalke's hopes of gaining one of the league's three Champions League berths was dealt a blow with a 1-1 draw against MSV Duisburg. The club fell six points behind Bremen.
Schalke sealed a berth in the UEFA Cup semifinals three days ago, but turned in a poor performance against Duisburg, leveling on Soren Larsen's 85th-minute goal.
PSV Eindhoven won its 19th league championship with a 1-1 draw against visiting FC Groningen.
PSV retained the title with two games left because its closest challenger, AZ Alkmaar, lost 1-0 at Ajax Amsterdam.
The champion has 80 points, 10 more than AZ and 13 more than Feyenoord.
Fourth-place FC Utrecht has 55, one more than 29-time champion Ajax. PSV's title confirmed it as one of the Netherlands' two entrants to next season's Champions League.
Erik Nevland had put Groningen ahead in the 41st minute after Timmy Simons' mistake gave him the chance to score from close range. Three minutes after halftime, Jefferson Farfan collected DaMarcus Beasley's pass on the edge of the area and shot past goalkeeper Bas Roorda from 10 yards.
The game was one of Guus Hiddink's last as PSV coach. Hiddink said last month he will leave, with media reports linking him to the national teams of Russia and England.
"It's a bit emotional. I will be leaving PSV but I am very pleased that we won again," Hiddink told reporters.
Beasley said he has no intention of going anywhere for now.
Meanwhile, AZ lost 1-0 to Ajax on Nourdin Boukhari's 33rd-minute goal. Roda JC drew 2-2 at Willem II, FC Twente beat visiting ADO The Hague 2-0, and Vitesse Arnhem beat FC Utrecht 1-0.
Kim Kallstrom scored two goals Sunday to help Rennes beat Sochaux 2-1 and record its eighth straight win.
Rennes, which started the season by conceding 16 goals in five games, is in third place with 56 points from 34 matches -- five behind second-place Bordeaux and an automatic berth into next season's Champions League.
Kallstrom scored the first goal in the fourth minute with a shot past goalkeeper Teddy Richert, but defender Souleymane Diawara leveled in the 20th after heading in a free kick from Jeremy Menez.
Kallstrom scored the winner from the penalty spot in the 81st minute after his shot on goal was handled by defender Jean Calve, who was sent off.
Calve appeared to have turned away from Kallstrom's powerful strike and the ball hit him below the shoulder.
Also Sunday, host Auxerre drew 0-0 with Le Mans. Visiting goalkeeper Yoann Pele making several outstanding saves.
The 23-year-old goalkeeper is being watched by several clubs, including English Premier League team Arsenal.
Lyon, with 75 points, leads Bordeaux by 14 points with only five matches remaining.
Lyon can clinch the title with a win at Paris Saint-Germain next Sunday.
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