Norwich and West Bromwich Albion fought out a 0-0 tie on Tuesday as the Canaries stayed three points ahead of the Baggies at the top of division one.
Norwich defender Craig Fleming was lucky not to give away a penalty at Carrow Road when he stopped a goalbound shot by Delroy Facey with his arm with goalkeeper Robert Green way off his line.
But Albion defender James Chambers should have been sent off for upending Darren Huckerby when the Norwich striker was chasing towards goal. The referee ruled it no foul.
PHOTO: AFP
West Brom's Welsh international Jason Koumas twice shaved the Norwich post with low shots while Canaries striker Damien Francis headed straight at goalkeeper Russell Hoult from close range.
The result gives Norwich 64 points from 33 games with 13 more to play and West Brom 61 from 34. Last season Albion was relegated from the Premier League.
Among other teams chasing places in the top flight, Sheffield United edged Millwall 2-1, West Ham was held 1-1 at Burnley and Ipswich lost 2-0 at Stoke.
The Blades victory over Millwall moved Neil Warnock's team up three places to fourth.
Down at the bottom, Nottingham Forest moved four points clear of the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory at last place Wimbledon.
In other division one games, it was Cardiff 0, Coventry 1; Preston 2, Reading 1 while four other games were called off because the playing surfaces were frozen.
Ken Bates, who bought Chelsea for a pound and sold his controlling shares to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for US$32.3 million, quit as the club's chairman on Tuesday.
The outspoken Londoner, who was in charge of the club for 22 years and appointed nine different managers, was reported to have made the announcement to a small gathering of Blues fans at a dinner at Stamford Bridge.
Under Bates, 72, Chelsea was transformed from a colorful but underachieving club to a high profile enterprise under the umbrella of his Chelsea Village, which included restaurants, shops and a hotel on the same site.
He did not understate his own achievements.
"I put in 70 hours a week," he once said, "and quite honestly, Chelsea could not pay me what I am worth."
But it was heavily in debt by the time he sold his shares to Abramovich last July, the Russian wiping out debts of US$152 million and then spending US$228 million on 13 new players.
On Tuesday Chelsea took that spending to US$251 million by agreeing to buy Dutch winger Arjen Robben from PSV Eindhoven at the end of the season.
Bates told fans during a question and answer session on Tuesday that he had been determined to make a "clean break" from the club so as not to outstay his welcome.
Last month he was replaced by American lawyer Bruce Buck as chairman of the Chelsea Village parent company.
Bates frequently hit out at FIFA, the Football Association and rival chairmen and managers during his spell at Chelsea.
Getting real in madrid
Ronaldo signed a two-year contract extension with Real Madrid to 2008, the Spanish club announced Tuesday.
Ronaldo's previous deal ran through 2006, with an option for another season, but the new contract means the Brazilian striker expects to stay at the club until he is nearly 32.
"I'm delighted with the new contract because I feel very good at the club and in the city," Ronaldo told the club Web site. "The club showed interest in renewing my contract and I, with great pleasure, immediately accepted."
Ronaldo follows French midfield star Zinedine Zidane, who recently extended his contract with Madrid until 2007.
Madrid assistant sports director Emilio Butragueno said the new deal, which follows extensions agreed last November by Spanish internationals Raul Gonzalez, Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez and Michel Salgado, helps to "lengthen the club's project."
"We're very happy. We have aimed to get central nucleus to stay more years with us. We did so with `Zizou' [Zidane], and before with Raul, Guti and Salgado and now with Ronaldo. I believe this to be great news for Real Madrid as a whole," Butragueno said.
Madrid said Ronaldo will give a news conference later Tuesday.
Ronaldo's new contract appears to scupper the hopes of big-spending Chelsea to sign the prolific goalscorer. Recent reports suggested the London club's owner, Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich, had targeted the striker for a transfer at the end of the season.
Ronaldo, voted FIFA world player of the year on three occasions, and a two-time winner of the Golden Ball award for Europe's top player, has been a roaring success since joining Madrid from Inter Milan in August 2002.
In his first season, his 23 goals in 31 matches steered Madrid to a record 29th Spanish league title, while this season he heads the Spanish league's scoring chart with 22 goals in 25 matches.
Madrid is bidding for the most impressive haul of silverware in its glittering history with the league title, Copa del Rey and Champions League all in its sights.
If Madrid wins all three trophies, it will become the first Spanish team to emulate Europe's four treble winners -- Glasgow Celtic, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United.
Saez ponders defense
Spain coach Inaki Saez is still unsure about which strikers and left-sided defenders to take to Euro 2004.
"I'd like to have a goalscoring striker and a left back, but at present I'm unclear about which ones," Saez said in the sports daily Marca on Tuesday.
The coach is seeking a partner for captain and all-time top scorer Raul Gonzalez, with Atletico de Madrid's teenager Fernando Torres and Espanyol's Raul Tamudo emerging as strong candidates.
But Saez said Monaco's Fernando Morientes and Malaga's Salva Ballesta, both of whom have been in scoring form recently, also retain a chance of making his squad, which will be announced in May.
"I'm continuing to look at all the candidates and I'm not discarding either Morientes or Salva," he said.
Two more forwards, Deportivo de La Coruna's Albert Luque and Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes, would be more likely to be used by Saez in attacking midfield positions if included.
Possible left backs include Real Madrid's Raul Bravo, FC Barcelona's Carles Puyol, the untried Asier del Horno of Athletic de Bilbao or Real Sociedad veteran Agustin Aranzabal.
No-favor ranger
Glasgow Rangers manager Alex McLeish has dismissed claims he signed defender Frank de Boer as a favor to Dutch coach Dick Advocaat.
De Boer joined Rangers in January on a loan deal until the end of the season. He had barely played at Turkish club Galatasaray and wanted more playing time to make the Dutch team for the Euro 2004 finals.
Earlier this week, Rangers defender Henning Berg said he believed De Boer was being chosen ahead of him as a favor to Advocaat -- the manager of Rangers before McLeish.
"I'm the manager of Rangers and I'll decide who does or doesn't play in my team," McLeish said. "Beyond that, I'm not going to comment on what Berg has said."
Advocaat called Berg's comments "rubbish."
"Alex would never select any players for Rangers except the 11 men which he thought were the best players for the match," Advocaat said.
"Berg is talking nonsense if he thinks that Alex has brought in De Boer only for my sake."
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