Chelsea is within sight of its second straight Premier League title.
Chelsea defeated Bolton 2-0 on goals by John Terry and Frank Lampard.
Manchester United plays at Tottenham the same day. If both teams win, Chelsea would lead Manchester United by nine points with three games to play. Chelsea would still need another point to clinch the title, although its superior goal difference (10) nearly guarantees it.
PHOTO: AFP
In other results Saturday, it's: Arsenal 3, West Bromwich Albion 1; Everton 0, Tottenham 1; Fulham 2, Charlton 1; Newcastle 3, Wigan 1; Portsmouth 1, Middlesbrough 0; West Ham 1, Manchester City 0.
On Sunday, it's Aston Villa vs. Birmingham and Blackburn vs. Liverpool.
Monday also offers a full schedule: Tottenham vs. Manchester United, Charlton vs. Portsmouth, Chelsea vs. Everton, Middlesbrough vs. West Ham, Sunderland vs. Newcastle, West Brom vs. Bolton.
Chelsea clinched the title last season at Bolton, and Saturday was a near-clincher.
"We know we're not quite there yet, last year was a fantastic day for us here," Lampard said. "It was a big step towards winning it today. We're the ones nine points clear and as long as we do our job we're going to win the league. We got the result, we're nearly there."
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho urged slight caution.
"The situation is fantastic, but I want my people just to be happy with the result and the situation -- not to be happy or to be singing the champions song," he said. "Not yet. Football is full of surprises."
Chelsea leads with 85 points, followed by Manchester United (76), Liverpool (70), Tottenham (61), Arsenal (57) and Blackburn (54). Bolton stayed on 48 points and is losing hope of qualifying for a place in Europe. At the bottom, Sunderland has been relegated with 12 points. Above it is West Brom (28), Birmingham (29) and Portsmouth (32).
Tottenham held on to fourth place -- the last Champions League spot -- with Robbie Keane's 33rd-minute penalty the difference.
Arsenal stayed four points behind its north London rivals, with the two meeting next weekend. Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp scored late to break a 1-1 deadlock at Highbury.
Fulham beat Charlton 2-1 on two goals by Luis Boa Morte. Charlton's Jason Euell equalized in the 26th, with Boa Morte scoring the winner four minutes later.
Alan Shearer, who will retire at the end of the season, scored two goals in Newcastle's 3-1 victory over Wigan.
Portsmouth escaped the relegation zone, moving up to 32 points with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough. Gary O'Neil scored in the 54th.
West Ham also kept winning, beating Man City 1-0 on Shaun Newton's goal in the 15th.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson acknowledged his club needs "a miracle" to overtake Chelsea. The Red Devils' challenge ended with a 0-0 draw against Sunderland on Friday before 72,509 fans at Old Trafford.
The draw relegated Sunderland, which has only 12 points from 33 games. Sunderland goalkeeper Kelvin Davis made a half-dozen key saves to end United's nine-game winning streak.
Ferguson blamed the draw on striker Wayne Rooney and winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Young Rooney and young Ronaldo had their worst games of the season -- probably," Ferguson said. "We know they're going to be great players. Tonight they just had an off night.
"We were depending on them, and they've been instrumental in everything we've achieved in the last nine games."
In the League Championship -- the level just below the Premier League -- Sheffield United was promoted to the Premier League on Saturday. Reading has already won the league to gain automatic promotion.
Sheffield United defeated Cardiff 1-0 on Friday to improve to 85 points. Reading has 98. United was promoted after Leeds drew 1-1 with Reading.
The next four teams in the League Championship play off for the final promotion spot to the Premier League.
Hearts beat Kilmarnock 2-0 at home to stay in second place.
Goals by Paul Hartley in the 70th minute and Christophe Berra in the 87th keep Hearts five points ahead of third-place Rangers.
Celtic has already clinched the title with 85 points, and plays at home today against Hibernian. Hearts have 68 points, with Rangers on 63.
Rangers drew 1-1 at home against Aberdeen on Saturday. Kris Boyd gave Rangers the lead in the 51st, with Scott Severin equalizing in the 68th.
In other results on Saturday, it was: Falkirk 0, Dunfermline 0; Livinsgston 3, Dundee United 1; Motherwell 0, Inverness 1.
Defender Fabio Cannavaro scored an injury-time equalizer, and Juventus drew 1-1 with Cagliari to stay five points clear of second-place AC Milan in the Serie A.
It was the fourth straight draw for Juventus which once led AC Milan by 10 points in mid-March.
With four rounds left, Juventus has 81 points and aiming for its 29th league title. Milan, which beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the Good Friday derby, has 76. Inter is next with 71.
Cagliari is three points above the relegation zone.
Also Saturday, AS Roma wasted a 3-0 first-half lead to draw 3-3 at Palermo and lose fourth place to Fiorentina which beat already-relegated Treviso 3-1.
Lazio stayed sixth by defeating Livorno 3-1 at Stadio Olimpico on two goals by Goran Pandev; while 10-man Chievo Verona beat Messina 2-0 to be one point behind Lazio in the hunt for a UEFA Cup berth.
Also, Parma won 2-1 at Sampdoria for the Genoa team's eighth loss in its last nine matches; Udinese won 2-1 at Lecce to move seven points clear of relegation; Empoli beat Siena 2-1; and Reggina beat Ascoli 2-0 to draw level with Udinese, Sampdoria and Ascoli with 38 points.
Georgia defender Kakha Kaladze scored Milan's winner in the 70th at the San Siro. The match was played on Good Friday to give Milan an extra day to prepare for the Champions League first-leg semifinal with FC Barcelona on Tuesday.
Deportivo La Coruna drew 0-0 with Sevilla , leaving both vulnerable in their bid for a place in European competition next season.
The result left Sevilla in fifth place with 53 points and Deportivo sixth, two points behind with five games remaining.
Celta Vigo, which plays its 33rd-round match at Real Betis on Sunday, also has 51 points, two points ahead of Villarreal. The top six finishers earn places in European competition next season.
Sevilla is due to play away against Schalke in the UEFA Cup semifinals on Thursday.
In other games, Mark Gonzalez scored the only goal and Real Sociedad won 1-0 against Racing Santander. Mallorca drew 0-0 against Alaves.
FC Barcelona, which won 1-0 over Villarreal on Friday, leads the standings with 73 points, 14 more than Valencia and Real Madrid. Osasuna has 58 points while Sevilla has 53 and Celta Vigo has 51.
Late goals by Michael Ballack and Mehmet Scholl helped Bayern Munich beat Arminia Bielefeld 2-0 to keep Hamburger SV at bay.
With four rounds left, Bayern has 69 points and Hamburg 65. Third-placed Bremen has 60 and may have ended its title hopes with a 1-1 draw against Wolfsburg.
Leverkusen moved into fifth place, the league's last guaranteed UEFA club spot, with a 2-1 win against Moenchengladbach. The club has charged up the table, fueled by Dimitar Berbatov's 10 goals in 10 matches.
Lyon won a record fifth straight first-division title after second-place Bordeaux lost 3-2 at Lille.
Lyon plays at Paris Saint-Germain today, but its 14-point lead means the title is safe as Bordeaux can only gather a maximum of 12 points from its four remaining games.
Coach Jacques Santini guided Lyon to its first ever title in the 2001-2002 season, then Paul Le Guen won three more before leaving in 2005 to be replaced by Gerard Houllier, who clinched his second championship 20 years after coaching PSG to victory in the 1985-1986 season.
"It's a record for the club and also a part of history," Houllier told French television.
Also Saturday, it was: Le Mans 0, Monaco 0; Marseille 6, Nancy 0; Nantes 3, Auxerre 2; Saint-Etienne 2, Lens 0; Sochaux 1, Strasbourg 1; Troyes 3, Ajaccio 0.
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