El Hadji Diouf scored a 58th-minute goal Saturday to lift Bolton to a 2-1 victory at Charlton, moving Wanderers up to fifth place and closing in on fourth -- the final Champions League berth from the Premier League.
Bolton took advantage of Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Tottenham at Anfield to move ahead of the sixth-place Reds in the chase to play next season in Europe's most lucrative club tournament.
Sami Hyypia scored in the 63rd to salvage a point for Liverpool.
PHOTO: AP
"We are looking toward Everton now rather than looking below and wondering who is going to catch us," Bolton manager Sam Allardyce said.
"The Champions League is still a long shot for us. We are going to have to rely on Everton slipping up. But we would dearly love to continue the way we are going."
None of the top three teams played league games. Chelsea, which will face Liverpool in an all-English Champions League semifinal, had the day off.
In Saturday's other FA Cup semifinal, Arsenal defeated Blackburn 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Substitute Robin van Persie scored twice in the last three minutes, with Robert Pires getting the other just before halftime.
Chelsea leads the league with 81 points and could clinch its first league title in 50 years as early as next weekend against Fulham. Arsenal trails with 70 points, with Manchester United on 67, Everton on 54, Bolton on 52, and Liverpool with 51.
In other Premier League games, it was: Crystal Palace 3, Norwich 3; Fulham 1, Manchester City 1; and Southampton 2, Aston Villa 2; Birmingham 0, Portsmouth 0.
Crystal Place came back from a two-goal deficit to earn a 3-3 draw against Norwich. Michael Hughes and Andrew Johnson scored late. Johnson scored with a penalty kick in the 83rd, his 10th penalty goal of the season.
The draw left Norwich in last place with 24 points, topped by Palace and Southampton with 27 each.
Southampton also blew a lead. Leading 2-0 after only 13 minutes, the Saints lost 3-2 to Aston Villa on goals by Carlton Cole, Nolberto Solano and the winner in the 72nd from Steven Davis.
Fulham rallied for its 1-1 draw with Manchester City on a 76th-minute goal from Luis Boa Morte.
Portsmouth and Birmingham moved up a place with their 0-0 draw. Portsmouth edged ahead of Fulham -- 35 points to 34. Manchester City moved even with Newcastle on points with 38, but ahead on goal difference. Newcastle, however, has played two fewer games.
In Cardiff, Wales, Van Persie scored twice in the last three minutes in Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Blackburn, putting the Gunners in their fourth final in five years.
France midfielder Pires tapped in from close range three minutes before halftime to put the Gunners ahead.
The score was harsh on Blackburn's American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who made three key saves.
The Gunners will play their record 17th final against either defending champion Manchester United or Newcastle on May 21 at Millennium Stadium.
Craig Bellamy scored early in the second half to rally Celtic to a 3-2 victory over Aberdeen. The victory moved the defending Scottish champions into a five-point lead over Rangers.
Rangers play at Dunfermline today.
Alexander Diamond scored in the 11th and Darren Mackie added a second three minutes later for Aberdeen's early 2-0 lead. Celtic rebounded with goals from Stanislav Varga in the 27th and John Hartson in the 51st, setting the stage for Bellamy's winner in the 58th.
In other Premier League games, it was: Dundee United 2, Hearts 1; Hibernian 0, Livingston 3; Inverness 3, Dundee 2; and Motherwell 1, Kilmarnock 1.
Celtic has 83 points from 33 games, with Rangers on 78 from 32. Behind the leaders are Hibernian with 56 points, Aberdeen with 52, Hearts with 48 and Motherwell with 43.
Richard Morales scored in the 26th minute to earn lightly regarded Osasuna a 1-0 victory over third-place Sevilla in the Spanish league.
The Uruguay international volleyed home from a cross by French midfielder Ludovic Delporte to deliver a blow to Sevilla's hopes of a spot in next season's European Champions League.
Sevilla, whose home defeat at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium ended a run of three straight victories, could drop several places in the standings after today's games.
In other 32nd-round games, Atletico drew 0-0 with Espanyol, while Real Sociedad beat Deportivo La Coruna 1-0.
Atletico striker Fernando Torres wasted the game's best chance in the 64th minute when his weak penalty was parried by Espanyol's Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni.
In the first half, a banana was thrown at Kameni from the crowd at Vicente Calderon Stadium, continuing the spate of racist taunts by spectators at Spanish games.
Atletico twice has been fined this season by the Spanish federation for their fans' taunting of black players.
Espanyol climbed to fifth with 50 points, while Atletico remained eighth with 47.
Deportivo stayed in ninth place with 46 after a defeat which left it in danger of missing out on European soccer for the first time since the 1998-1999 season.
Sociedad midfielder Gari Uranga produced a diving header from Javier Garrido's cross to score the only goal in the 17th minute.
FC Barcelona leads the Spanish league with 69 points, followed by Real Madrid with 63.
Sevilla is third with 52 points, one more than Villarreal. Espanyol and Betis have 50 points each, two more than Valencia.
Owen Hargreaves scored a last-minute goal to help Bayern Munich stun Hannover 1-0 and put the team in command of the Bundesliga title race.
Bayern moved six points clear as both its title rivals were beaten by late goals. There are five rounds remaining.
Schalke self-destructed for the second straight week in a 2-1 loss to Hamburg, and Stuttgart's lackluster play resulted in a five-match winning streak ending with a 2-1 upset to 17th-place Rostock.
Hargreaves had the ball pushed into his path by Claudio Pizarro as the Peru forward tumbled while fending off two defenders.
Firing from 24m, the English player's first goal in a year flew right under the crossbar in the 90th minute.
Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and France defender Willie Sagnol raced into each others arms in joy afterward as the Bayern players mobbed Hargreaves.
The two players had spent the last few days in a public war of words, blaming each other for the bitter exit Tuesday by Chelsea in the Champions League.
Schalke lost for the third time in four matches, and two goals were triggered by huge blunders.
With four minutes left, defender Mladen Krstajic punched the ball and game-winner into his own net while sliding feet first in a fight with Hamburg striker Emile Mpenza for possession.
Bayern now has 62 points, followed by Schalke with 56 and Stuttgart with 54.
Werder Bremen and Hertha Berlin remain in the hunt for a Champions League berth with 50 points and a better goal difference than teams that are situated higher in the table.
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