Manchester United won 2-1 at Bolton Saturday to cut Chelsea's Premier League lead to 7 points after the champion was held 0-0 by relegation-threatened Birmingham.
Substitute Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the winner at the Reebok Stadium after Manchester United had trailed to Kevin Davies' 25th-minute goal and Louis Saha equalized.
Van Nistelrooy, on the bench for five of the past six games, went on in the second half and took a pass from Saha to score with 11 minutes to go. It was his 150th goal for the club.
PHOTO: AFP
"When he comes on, we know what he's going to do," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said of Van Nistelrooy. "He's the best finisher in the game. And next week he will be fresh, Arsenal, a massive game now.
"It's no good making predictions because seven points is still a massive gap and it can still only be thrown away by Chelsea. But it's getting closer and we are playing well and that's the important issue."
Birmingham conceded 12 goals and scored none in its previous three games, but gave Chelsea few chances at St. Andrews until the closing stages. Chelsea's Hernan Crespo and Ricardo Carvalho missed close-range opportunities in the final minute as Birmingham held on for a point.
Chelsea had the ball in the net three times, but each was disallowed for offside. Manager Jose Mourinho said one of them, by Asier Den Horno, should have counted because the player flagged for offside, Ricardo Carvalho, was not interfering with play.
"The result is a fair one," Mourinho said. "Birmingham fought for 90 minutes. Every one of their players was very committed and they deserved a point. But I want to win every game. I'm not happy with the performance. I'm not happy with the result. I cannot say I'm not concerned.
"But we scored a clear goal. There is no doubt about that. But Del Horno's goal should have stood."
The result meant Chelsea has 79 points from 32 games, and Manchester United has 72. Third-place Liverpool won 2-0 at West Bromwich Albion later Saturday but is still 12 points behind Chelsea. Robbie Fowler and Djibril Cisse scored in the first half at the Hawthorns.
Thierry Henry scored twice as Arsenal followed up its midweek Champions League victory over Italian leader Juventus with a 5-0 win over Aston Villa.
Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie and Vassiriki Diaby also scored at Highbury to help the Gunners move to within two points of fourth-place north London neighbor Tottenham.
"We've had a good result today and the results of our opponents have gone our way so mathematically it's in our hands," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "We have started a momentum and let's take care of the way we play the game and the rest will come."
Five days before the return with Juventus, the Gunners lost Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas with an injured foot, which Wenger said was quite swollen.
Spurs slipped 3-1 at Newcastle. Lee Bowyer, Shola Ameobi and Alan Shearer scored for the Magpies to end a run of four straight losses.
The bottom three teams avoided defeat, with last-place Sunderland, almost certain to be relegated, gaining a 2-2 draw at Everton. The Toffees twice led -- through Leon Osman and James McFadden -- but Sunderland hit back through Jonathan Stead's first goal in 32 starts and Rory Delap.
Portsmouth won 3-1 at Fulham, its third straight victory lifting it above Birmingham into 18th place and level on points with West Brom. Gary O'Neil scored twice and Lomana Lualua once.
A week after guaranteeing promotion to the top division for the first time in its 135-year history, Reading secured the League Championship title with a 5-0 victory over Derby.
Second-place Sheffield United was held 1-1 by Stoke.
Division two champion Gretna reached its first Scottish Cup final with a 3-0 victory over Dundee.
Kenny Deuchar fired his team ahead in the final minute of the first half at neutral Hampden Park, and Ryan McGuffie added a penalty in the 58th after he was brought down by Bobby Mann.
Dundee defender Barry Smith deflected a cross from Jamie McQuilken into his own net eight minutes from the end and that completed an upset victory for Rowan Alexander's team.
In the May 13 final, Gretna, which joined the league four years ago and clinched promotion to division one last week, will play the winner of Sunday's semifinal between Edinburgh neighbors Hibernian and Hearts.
In the Premier League, Aberdeen won 1-0 at Inverness, Motherwell edged last-place Livingston 2-1 and Dunfermline drew 1-1 with Falkirk. Today, third-place Rangers go to Dundee United.
Celtic, which could regain the title by winning its next game, is idle this weekend. Gordon Strachan's Hoops lead second-place Hearts by 17 points with seven games to go.
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