Ruud van Nistelrooy fired a hat-trick as Manchester United romped to a 4-1 victory at Leicester on Saturday while Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's lone strike earned Chelsea a 1-0 triumph over Aston Villa.
The results meant both clubs stayed a point behind leader Arsenal with the Blues ahead of the Reds on goals scored.
PHOTO: AP
Arsenal had moved four clear on Friday by beating Newcastle 3-2 at Highbury in a game brought forward for the benefit of live TV.
Van Nistelrooy, at the center of two incidents that led to a red card for Patrick Vieira and a near brawl in a 0-0 tie between United and Arsenal on Sunday, scored in the 16th, 45th and 52nd minute after Roy Keane had given the Reds the lead at Walkers Stadium with his first goal in 41 games.
Frank Sinclair replied for the Foxes to stop American 'keeper Tim Howard posting a fourth league and cup shutout in a row.
"It was a really first class performance," said United manager Alex Ferguson.
"Van Nistelrooy's name will always be in the newspaper because he's a great player. A hat-trick today and he could have scored six."
At Stamford Bridge, Hasselbaink prodded the ball home two minutes before half time after Villa 'keeper Thomas Sorensen had failed to hold a shot from Frank Lampard.
Although Claudio Ranieri had a full squad of 30 players to choose from his team didn't overwhelm Villa which had chances to capture a point. The Italian admitted his team still had a long way to go before challenging for the top titles.
"We're like a baby," he said. "We're crawling now. Sometimes we try to stand up but we're not ready yet.
"The pressure on the baby isn't good. But I'm his father and I'll take all the pressure.
"We made a lot of chances without scoring and that's no good because [Juan Pablo] Angel had two great chances to tie the match but was unlucky today.
"I thought they deserved the minimum of a draw. Today was a good match for us for the points."
In Saturday's other results, Birmingham stayed unbeaten in six games by beating promoted Portsmouth 2-0, Bolton was held 1-1 at home by last place Wolves and Southampton lost 1-0 at home to Middlesbrough.
Sunday's games are Blackburn-Fulham, Charlton-Liverpool, Everton-Leeds and Manchester City vs. Tottenham which is playing its first league game since firing manager Glenn Hoddle a week ago.
For Manchester United's first visit to the Walkers Stadium, England midfielder Paul Scholes was back for his first game since the start of the season and played a part in the first two goals.
Keane scored from close range from a Paul Scholes pass in the 15th minute as the Foxes conceded their first goal in four games. A minute later a shot from Scholes landed at the feet of Van Nistelrooy who added the second from 10m.
Van Nistelrooy scored his third just before half time when he took a pass from Rio Ferdinand and spun past Sinclair before shooting goalkeeper Ian Walker.
And he completed his hat-trick seven minutes into the second half, shooting home after a pass from Eric Djemba-Djemba.
The results mean that Arsenal has 17 points while Chelsea and Manchester United have 16. The Blues have a game in hand having played just six.
At St. Andrews, Australian international defender Stan Lazaridis provided the free kick for Stephen Clemence to put the home side ahead and then fired the second in the 50th. The result pushed Steve Bruce's team up to fourth with 14 points after its ninth home game without defeat.
In the meeting of the two Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium, Wolves went ahead with a 30m shot from Alex Rae in the 30th minute. But Kevin Davies scored his third goal of the season five minutes from the end after collecting a throw in to capture a point as Bolton stayed unbeaten at home for the 10th game in a row. In spite of the point Wolves remains last with just two points.
"I'm angry," said Wolves manager Dave Jones.
"One lapse of concentration has let them back into it. We'd worked so hard to get three points today and could have been 2-0 up with better finishing. To concede from a throw in is absolutely ridiculous. We've got to stop switching off."
Malcolm Christie netted his first Premier League goal of the season in the 13th minute, beating goalkeeper Paul Jones at his near post after a 'Boro breakaway.
Saints striker Kevin Phillips was sent off in the dying minutes for kicking out after a foul as the Saints lost at home for the first time this season and dropped out of the top four.
"Every goal can be traced back to somebody's mistake but I'm not picking out individuals," said Southampton manager Gordon Strachan.
Scottish premier league
Henrik Larsson scored the winner as Celtic came from behind to beat Hibernian 2-1 in the Scottish Premier League Saturday, but finished with ten men after defender Bobo Balde was sent off.
Rangers remain at the top of the league with 21 points after a 3-1 win over Dundee. Celtic has 19 points, with Hearts in third with 13.
Celtic fell behind in the 38th minute when Mathias Kouo-Doumbe scored at close range from a Colin Murdock cross. Two minutes later, Celtic equalized through an Alan Thompson penalty, awarded when Stilian Petrov was brought down by Hibernian's Jarkko Wiss. Larsson scored the winner in the 51st minute with a close range strike.
Balde was shown a straight red card in the 70th minute for kicking out at Hibernian substitute Scott Brown. Balde will likely miss the first Old Firm derby against Rangers on Oct. 4. Celtic manager Martin O'Neill said he couldn't defend Balde's action.
"You cannot throw your legs up like that in this day and age," O'Neill said.
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