Arsenal's bid for three trophies ended Saturday with a 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup semifinals at the neutral ground of Villa Park.
United will play the winner of Sunday's all-division one semifinal between Millwall and Sunderland in the final on May 22.
"We obviously hope to win a trophy every season and I hope we get a chance to this year," said United manager Alex Ferguson.
PHOTO: AFP
Arsenal failed in its bid to set a record of four FA Cup final appearances in a row as its 18-game unbeaten record in the competition came to an end.
It also meant no chance of emulating Manchester United's 1999 feat of winning the treble -- the domestic league and FA Cup and the Champions League.
"We are disappointed because we feel that it's the kind of game we didn't deserve to lose," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "We had the first chances and, if you look at what Manchester United created today we feel they were a very beatable Manchester United team we played today."
Arsenal has 74 points, Chelsea 70 and United 62. Newcastle's win ensured fourth place, two above Liverpool.
At White Hart Lane, Hasselbaink scored his fourth goal in two games. Last weekend, he came off the bench to score a 12 minute hat-trick in a 5-2 win over Wolves.
"We made three great counter attacks to kill [the game]," Ranieri said. "If you don't score the second goal, the match is always open. It was interesting and tight match. It was good for us."
Spurs captain Jamie Redknapp, making his first start since September, was taken to hospital for plastic surgery on his lip after being hurt in an accidental clash with his cousin, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.
Chelsea was tipped to oust Arsenal from the Champions League by Ferguson.
"I think that'll be a difficult game Tuesday night," the United manager said. "I think maybe I got a bit of luck today and Ranieri's due a bit of luck after the season he's had the pressure he's under."
Chelsea moved to within four points of Arsenal in the Premier League Saturday, with a 1-0 win over London rival Tottenham.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's 38th minute winner means Chelsea has extended its unbeaten streak at White Hart Lane to 17 years.
Scottish Premier League
Chris Sutton and Didier Agathe scored in the final three minutes to help Celtic salvage a 2-2 draw with Hearts.
Hearts had taken a 2-0 lead with goals in each half from Kevin McKenna and Mark de Vries. Celtic, which extended its lead over Rangers to 20 points, now hasn't lost a home in 76 matches since August 2001.
McKenna scored in the 21st minute, after the ball had rebounded off Celtic defender Stanislav Varga. De Vries added the second after 78 minutes, taking advantage of a mistake by Celtic defender Bobo Balde.
Sutton scored in the 87th minute after Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon had pushed his initial shot out. Agathe scored at the back post in injury time for the draw.
Spanish league
Roberto Carlos scored twice from deflections off free kicks as Real Madrid beat Albacete 2-1 and reinforced its leadership of the league.
The Brazil defender's goals came on his 397th appearance for Madrid, breaking legendary Argentine forward Alfredo Di Stefano's record for non-Spanish players.
Madrid's victory added pressure on Valencia, which needs to beat last-place Murcia today to stay within reach of the top spot.
Earlier, Sevilla beat Espanyol 1-0 and boosted its hopes of playing in next season's UEFA Cup.
Bundesliga
Roy Makaay's 20th league goal lifted Bayern Munich to a 2-0 win against short-handed FC Kaiserslautern, while cutting the lead of Werder Bremen.
Makaay scored in the 47th minute and fellow forward Roque Santa Cruz in the 77th as second-placed Bayern protected its dwindling chances of catching Bremen for the German title.
VfB Stuttgart routed Hamburg 5-1 for the league's last guaranteed Champions League berth.
Dutch premiership
Mateja Kezman scored twice as PSV Eindhoven strolled past RKC Waalwijk 4-0 to hold second place in the Dutch premiership.
The win won't threaten Ajax's big lead, but it will breed confidence in the run-up to next Thursday's UEFA Cup quarterfinal clash with Newcastle.
PSV has 56 points, nine behind Ajax, which can restore the margin to 12 if it wins today. More importantly, the three points increased PSV's cushion over third-place Feyenoord to four.
FRENCH LEAGUE
Lyon squandered a chance to take the French first division lead, tumbling 1-2 to rebounding Marseille.
Ivorian striker Didier Drogba gave Marseille an early lead in the 5th minute, firing into the left lower corner of the home team's goal.
Peguy Luyindula, fresh from France's 0-0 draw with the Netherlands last Wednesday, pounced on a defensive error to put Lyon back in the picture in the 17th minute.
Marseille captain Brahim Hemdani failed to clear Sidney Govou's cross from the right, punting the ball to Luyindula, who cracked it neatly under Marseille's diving 'keeper Fabien Barthez.
Portuguese league
FC Porto lost for the first time in the league this season, falling to Gil Vicente 2-0.
Gaspar and Luis Coentrao scored a goal each as the hosts shocked the defending champions and handed them their first defeat in 28 league matches.
Porto, which eliminated Manchester United from the Champions League, looks set to reach the competition's semifinals. It leads French champion Lyon 2-0 after the first leg.
Gaspar scored the first goal for Gil Vicente in the 64th minute to put the pressure on Porto, and Coentrao added a second in the 67th.
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