Wayne Rooney scored to help Manchester United to a 2-1 win over Newcastle in the English Premier League on Sunday -- its second win over the Magpies in as many weeks.
The win kept Manchester United in touch with Arsenal in the race for second. Manchester United is one point behind second-place Arsenal, which hosts Tottenham today.
If Arsenal loses, it will hand Chelsea its first title in 50 years. If not, Chelsea can clinch by winning at Bolton next Saturday.
In Sunday's other match, Lomano LuaLua scored twice in five minutes as Portsmouth beat Southampton 4-1 to keep its local rival bottom of the standings.
Manchester United dominated in beating Newcastle 4-1 in the FA Cup semifinals last week.
On Sunday, it gifted Newcastle the lead.
A weak goal kick by Manchester United 'keeper Tim Howard was intercepted by Darren Ambrose, who ran forward to score past the diving US international in the 27th minute.
"I think they did get affected by the Newcastle goal because it came out of the blue," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said.
"It was a bad kick out from Tim. There was a bit of slackness there and jolted us a bit. Until that point, it was as if we were running away with it."
Manchester United then lost defender Gabriel Heinze to injury in the 37th minute when he landed awkwardly on his ankle after challenging Shola Ameobi for a header. He was replaced by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Rooney leveled in the 57th with a powerful, swerving, dipping volley from just outside the box, a goal Ferguson described as "phenomenal."
"I was ready to take him off because he was injured in the first half," Ferguson said.
"He just hobbled on the remainder of the game. But while he's on the pitch, he's such a threat and that's why we kept him on."
Rooney was treated for a bruised leg after the match.
Defender Wes Brown added Manchester United's winner in the 74th, leaping to head his first league goal for Manchester United.
Manchester United was without Ruud van Nistelrooy, who didn't even make the bench after sustaining an ankle injury in training.
It was Newcastle's fifth successive loss, including the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United and a 4-1 defeat at Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Cup quarterfinal second leg.
Chelsea has 85 points, followed by Arsenal on 71 and Manchester United on 70. Everton is fourth with 58 points, four ahead of crosstown rival Liverpool.
At the bottom, Southampton has 28 points, West Brom has 29, with Norwich and Crystal Palace on 30 points.
Stilian Petrov and Craig Bellamy scored to give Celtic a 2-1 win at rival Rangers and a five-point lead atop the Premier League.
Petrov scored with a 21st-minute header from Didier Agathe's cross, before getting hit on the head by an object thrown from the crowd while celebrating in front of Rangers fans. He was unhurt and continued to play after receiving treatment, but was booked by referee Stuart Dougal for his celebrations.
Bellamy made it 2-0 after 34 minutes with a solo effort, running into the Rangers half, and getting around defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos to chip the ball past Rangers goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus.
Bellamy was then shown a yellow card for his celebration, also in front of Rangers fans.
Celtics Jackie McNamara denied Nacho Novo in the 71st minute with a block on the line and Waterreus dived to stop a Stanislav Varga effort.



