Chelsea had won its first nine matches in this season's English Premier League, prompting manager Jose Mourinho to boast that his team would win the title by the end of the year.
The defending champions may have to wait a little longer after Sunday's 1-1 draw at Everton -- a match that Mourinho believes should have been a win because Didier Drogba's potential match-winning goal was ruled offside.
"We didn't win? For me it was 2-1," Mourinho said. "We scored two goals, two beautiful goals. Normally this is a victory. For me, for my players, for our feelings, we won the game."
PHOTO: AP
Everton took the lead when James Beattie scored from the penalty spot in the 36th minute. The Toffees earned the penalty when Shaun Wright-Phillips brought down Tim Cahill.
The goal was only the fourth conceded by Chelsea in 10 league games.
Frank Lampard equalized in the 50th minute after chasing a loose ball and scoring from long range. Chelsea had the ball in the net 14 minutes later, but Drogba was whistled for being offside.
"You should ask the linesman why it was not a goal because if he has some doubts, you always have to protect the attacking team," Mourinho said. "If he has no doubts and he disallows the goal, you know, glasses, I don't know.
"Managers, referees and linesman all make mistakes. But it leaves a taste in the mouth."
Chelsea still has a sizable lead, however, with 28 points from 10 matches. Charlton, Tottenham and Wigan all have 19, with the traditional title contenders further back.
Manchester United trails by 10 points, while Arsenal is 12 points back and European champion Liverpool needs 18 points to catch the Blues.
Chelsea did extend its unbeaten league streak to 39 matches -- aiming for Arsenal's record of 49.
Everton finished fourth last season, but has struggled this season, with only four points from nine matches.
"Obviously we're bottom and not doing very well but we showed what we're made of today," Beattie said. "Chelsea had a lot of possession, probably 70 percent but we sucked it up at the back and I thought we did really well today."
Earlier, Emre Belozoglu scored the winning goal to lead Newcastle over local rival Sunderland 3-2. In the first half, the two teams traded two goals each in an eight-minute span.
Also, Bolton beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 and West Ham topped Middlesbrough 2-1.
Shola Ameobi, who started in place of the injured Michael Owen, scored the first goal at St. James' Park in the 34th minute by heading in a corner from Emre.
Seven minutes later, the score was 2-2.
Liam Lawrence leveled in the 35th, and Ameobi put Newcastle in the lead again in the 37th. The Black Cats equalized through Stephen Elliott in the 41st.
Emre scored the winner in the 63rd with his first goal for the club since joining from Inter Milan in July. He curled a free kick in off the post and then ran to embrace Newcastle manager Graeme Souness on the touchline.
At Upton Park, former England striker Teddy Sheringham scored for West Ham in the 66th minute.
Middlesbrough's Chris Riggott scored an own-goal in the 74th minute to give West Ham a 2-0 lead. 'Boro goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer made a save on the line, but a linesman ruled the ball had crossed and a goal was awarded. Franck Queudrue pulled a goal back for 'Boro in the 87th.
West Brom missed a twice-taken penalty in the first half at the Reebok Stadium. Diomansy Kamara's first spot kick was ruled out for an infringement and he sent the second attempt over the bar.
Bolton won with two late goals. Hidetoshi Nakata scored in the 81st and Kevin Nolan added the second in the 90th.
On Saturday, Tottenham held Manchester United to a 1-1 draw, while Arsenal missed a bizarre penalty in its 1-0 win over Manchester City.
In other Saturday results, it was: Aston Villa 0, Wigan 2; Fulham 2, Liverpool 0; Blackburn 2, Birmingham 0; and Portsmouth 1, Charlton 2.
In the Football League Championship, Sheffield United leads with 37 points, with Reading two points behind. Leicester beat Coventry 2-1.
Ruben Baraja and David Villa scored first-half goals and Valencia beat Real Madrid 2-1, ending Madrid's four-game winning streak and knocking it out of the lead in the league.
Adding to an early missed penalty by Zinedine Zidane, Real finished with nine players following the expulsions of Thomas Gravesen and David Beckham, who was sent off in the 88th minute after drawing one yellow and then earning a second for sarcastically applauding referee Dauden Ibanez.
Getafe reclaimed the league lead with a 5-2 victory over Zaragoza, giving it 17 points, one better than Celta and two more than Madrid.
Valencia and Osasuna are equal on points with Madrid with 15, two more than Barcelona, which beat Osasuna 3-0 on Saturday.
After Villa had one chance stopped by Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas and Miguel Angel Angulo shot high, Valencia took the lead in the 22nd minute when Baraja bent a free kick over the Madrid wall and past Casillas.
Zidane put his penalty off the left post in the 10th minute, but Madrid scored its first in the 36th minute as Raul Gonzalez settled a ball from Roberto Carlos, spun and shot past Valencia keeper Santiago Canizares.
Valencia reclaimed the lead in the 39th minute on a penalty kick by Villa after Madrid defender Sergio Ramos was called for an intentional handball.
Both sides had chances in the second half, Valencia when Villa's goalward shot in the 80th was cleared off the line by a sliding Sergio Ramos and Madrid when Robinho's close-range shot in the 66th went high. The Brazilian youngster had another chance in the 76th that Canizares thwarted.
Hamburger SV failed to keep pace with Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich after being held to a 1-1 draw by Borussia Dortmund.
Christoph Metzelder headed Dortmund into the lead in the 58th minute. Piotr Trochowski then leveled with a 74th-minute long range shot for third-place Hamburg, which fell four points behind Bayern.
Two weeks ago, Hamburg was one point behind the leaders.
Dortmund dominated early in front of 75,000 fans at Westfalenstadion, but Hamburg found its form without suspended top scorer Rafael van der Vaart.
"He's very important to us, but I think we compensated well," Hamburg coach Thomas Doll said. "I know my boys and it's good to see we can always fight back."
Doll coached his first match in Dortmund a year ago, a 2-0 win. Since then he has lifted Hamburg from a relegation candidate to a top Bundesliga club.
Metzelder scored after stripping Hamburg's Sergei Barbarez of possession and then scrambling downfield fast enough to dive into a cross that put Dortmund ahead.
Germany hopes the 2002 World Cup standout can regain form and stabilize a young defense after a 2 1/2-year injury layoff.
"I'm a long way from being completely back," Metzelder said. "There are always setbacks, but scoring a goal at home in Westfalenstadion was a great gift."
Dortmund has won only twice the last 13 times it has led -- one reason it's stuck in eighth place.
Also, Stuttgart settled for a 1-1 draw in Leverkusen despite the better chances.
Tranquillo Barnetta scored in the 56th minute for Leverkusen, and Danijel Ljuboja converted from the penalty spot in the 72nd.
Ljuboja was unlucky several times, including a goal called back, an attempt that hit the crossbar and one cleared at the line by Leverkusen's Bernd Schneider.
An early goal by Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and late strikes by Adrian Mutu and Marcelo Zalayeta gave Juventus its eighth straight victory, 3-0 over Lecce, to maintain its five-point lead atop Serie A.
The victory by Juventus, which has allowed only two goals in its eight games, matched the record start of the Turin club, then managed by Giovanni Trapattoni, in 1985.
Juventus leads the Serie A with 24 points, comfortably ahead of second-place AC Milan, which rallied to beat Palermo 2-1 at home.
Striker Filippo Inzaghi scored Milan's winning goal with a diving header in the 76th minute at the San Siro.
Inter Milan is third with 18 points after Argentine substitute striker Julio Ricardo Cruz's 36th-minute goal -- his fifth of the season -- enabled it to beat Udinese 1-0.
The Rome Derby between AS Roma and Lazio ended in a 1-1 draw that left both teams well behind Juventus.
Lazio trails by 10 points, while Roma is another five back.
Francesco Totti scored for AS Roma in the 40th minute, from an angled position. Tommaso Rocchi headed in a long cross from Cesar in the 57th for the draw.
Substitute striker Shabani Nonda had the chance at a winner in extra time, but his shot went wide.
Also Sunday, Sampdoria converted an extra-time penalty to draw 3-3 at home with Siena; Chievo Verona scored two second-half goals to beat Cagliari 2-1; 10-man Livorno defeated Reggina 1-0 on a late goal by veteran striker Cristiano Lucarelli; and Empoli downed last-place Treviso 2-1.
Timmy Simons scored the lone goal from the penalty spot to lead PSV Eindhoven over Ajax 1-0 and into first place.
PSV, which now has 22 points from nine matches, won the penalty when Jefferson Farfan was fouled by Urby Emanuelson in the 10th minute.
"The referee's decision was wrong," Ajax coach Danny Blind said. "After they scored we did not give up anything in our defense. But again, we lost the game because we can't finish."
Feyenoord lost to RKC Waalwijk 2-1 when Vergilio Teixeira scored a last-minute goal and dropped into a tie for second place with AZ Alkmaar, one point behind PSV. Ajax is fifth with 14 points.
Ajax dominated possession but had only one quality scoring opportunity when Nigel de Jong had his shot blocked Ibrahim Affelay midway through the second half.
Feyenoord lost for only the second time this season. Maarten Martens gave RKC the lead in the 33rd minute, but Romeo Castelen equalized in the 78th. Teixeira scored the winner in injury time.
AZ stayed undefeated at home by beating 10-man Willem II Tilburg 5-1.
FC Porto beat Nacional 1-0 on Hugo Almeida's 47th-minute goal, its first victory in three games and moving it into second behind league leader-Braga.
Braga won 1-0 over Boavista on Saturday to improve to 20 points and extend its lead to three points. Porto's victory moved its past Nacional, which fell to fourth behind Benfica, five points off the lead.
Also on Sunday, Sporting drew Gil Vicente 2-2. It was the team's first match under new coach and former international midfielder Paulo Bento, who replaced Jose Peseiro after he resigned last week.
Rudolph Douala gave Sporting the lead in the 46th, but defender Gregory Armolim and striker Carlos Carneiro rallied to put Gil Vicente ahead by the 69th.
Liedson Muniz scored the equalizer in injury time.
Midfielder David Hellebuyck scored in the 84th minute and Saint-Etienne beat Marseille 2-1 at home to extend its unbeaten streak to three and climb to fourth place in the first division.
Four-time defending champion Lyon, unbeaten in the league since April, won 4-0 at Metz on Saturday for its ninth win of the season and remained seven points atop Ligue 1 with 30 points.
Paris Saint-Germain is in second.
Egaleo rallied with three second-half goals -- including a 90th-minute own-goal -- and won 3-2 over visiting Xanthi, which remained atop the league as Olympiakos Piraeus suffered its second straight loss, 1-0 to OFI in Crete.
Giorgos Fotakis's goal in the 50th and Dimos Manousakis' equalizer in the 72nd matched the first-half tallies by Xanthi's Stavros Lambriakos and Brazilian striker Luciano. But Vance Sikov's own-goal gave the host its second victory of the season.
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