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.
"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."
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