Tim Cahill's late goal lifted Everton to a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough on Sunday, moving the Toffies to within three points of Manchester United.
Boudewijn Zenden's first goal in two months gave 'Boro a 1-0 first-half lead.
With the Premier League title nearly conceded to Chelsea, the race for the next five spots has become the focus.
"There's a long way to go and, of course, Chelsea's in a fantastic position," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger acknowledged. "They [Chelsea] can only lose it now."
In a late match, Fulham got an injury-time goal from Papa Bouba Diop to beat last-place West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Craven Cottage.
The Baggies stayed on the bottom with 13 points, topped by Southampton with 15 and Norwich with 16. Fulham moved up to 25 points and into 15th place, just above Blackburn.
Zenden scored for 'Boro in the 26th minute when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink carved open the Everton defense with a perfect pass, which Zenden directed behind Everton goalkeeper Richard Wright.
Chris Sutton's goal in the 24th minute gave Celtic a 1-0 win at Aberdeen and moved the Glasgow club back into first place in Scotland's Premier League.
Sutton beat Aberdeen goalkeeper Ryan Esson for his 11th goal of the season after capitalizing on a defensive mistake by Philip McGuire.
Defending champion Celtic improved to 56 points, three ahead of bitter Glasgow rival Rangers. The loss left Aberdeen in fourth place with 36 points. Hibernian held third with 40.
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill defended Brazilian Juninho, who started after being out with an injury.
"Today was difficult for him because he was stepping in," O'Neill said. "But I thought his input in the first half was very good considering he has been out for a few weeks now."
Defending champion Valencia played its match despite the sudden death of a player's eight-month-old daughter, and leader FC Barcelona needed a late goal from Samuel Eto'o to edge Real Sociedad 1-0.
Spanish soccer federation officials considered postponing the match at Osasuna, but referee Gonzalez Vazquez decided to play despite the death of Valencia defender Marco Caneira's infant daughter.
Caneira, 25, did not play in the match, which started eight minutes late and ended in a 0-0 draw. The Portugal international was reportedly flown back to Valencia to be with his family.
It was not immediately clear what caused the baby's death, but some news reports have said it was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
At the Camp Nou, Eto'o made up for an early missed penalty by heading in the match-winning goal in the 80th minute.
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