LONDON - Chelsea took another stride towards the Premier League title on Saturday as they preserved their 11-point lead with a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
In what their managers now admit is a battle for runners-up spot, second-placed Manchester United and Arsenal in third secured 1-0 wins over Fulham and Blackburn Rovers respectively.
Everton, who occupy the fourth Champions League spot, play sixth-placed Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on Sunday.
Chelsea conceded their first league goal at Stamford Bridge since November 20 as relegation-threatened Crystal Palace briefly threatened a surprise.
Aki Riihilahti punished a mistake by Frank Lampard to equalise for Palace shortly before halftime after the England midfielder had thumped home his 11th goal of the season.
Joe Cole restored Chelsea's lead after 54 minutes and substitute Mateja Kezman wrapped up the 24th league victory of the season for Jose Mourinho's side with a late double.
A further boost for Chelsea was a second-half substitute appearance for Dutch winger Arjen Robben, his first action for six weeks after breaking his foot.
"I was fortunate today," said Lampard. "I was down at halftime and I was just pleased that the lads made sure my mistake wasn't important.
"We got ourselves in the lead and then the third and fourth goals killed the game completely. "
With eight games remaining Chelsea, who last won the title 50 years ago, have 77 points and are on course to break United's record Premier League points total of 92 set in 1993-94.
United needed a spectacular first-half strike by Cristiano Ronaldo to increase Fulham's relegation fears, although they were nearly made to pay for their wasted chances when Lee Clark hit the woodwork late on for the Londoners.
The Portuguese winger fired an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net after cutting in from the left midway through a first half dominated by the home side.
It was United's first league victory against Fulham in four attempts and moved them onto 66 points but manager Alex Ferguson all but conceded that Chelsea are out of reach.
"The league is looking beyond us," he said. "But you have to keep going. We want to finish second to qualify for the Champions League without having to go through the preliminaries again."
Arsenal are two points behind United after Robin Van Persie's goal three minutes before halftime gave his side victory in a dress rehearsal for next month's FA Cup semi-final.
Dutch striker Van Persie, only drafted in when Freddie Ljungberg joined a lengthy list of Arsenal absentees in the warm-up, waltzed past goalkeeper Brad Friedel after an astute pass from Ashley Cole.
The goal made amends for a 50th minute red card he picked up at Southampton on February 26, when his team went on to concede an equaliser in a 1-1 draw.
"It was a hard time for me after the Southampton game," Van Persie, who also hit the bar in the second half, told Sky Sports News. "This is a great day for me. It was a hard month, I've had to train hard and keep quiet."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger added: "We want to finish at least second and as close as possible to Chelsea. And we'll fight until the end to do that. "
West Bromwich Albion dented Charlton Athletic's European ambitions and increased their own survival chances with a 4-1 away win -- their first in the league this season.
Robert Earnshaw got a second-half hat-trick against a Charlton side reduced to 10 men after Talal El Karkouri was sent off for a two-footed lunge in the first half.
West Brom remain second from bottom with 24 points but are now only two behind Crystal Palace who are in the safety zone.
"They're keeping their belief, they feel we've got a chance of getting out of the relegation zone and we've got to keep working at it," said West Brom manager Bryan Robson.
Bottom club Norwich City look doomed, however, after going down 1-0 at Bolton Wanderers in a late kickoff. Stelios Giannakopoulos scored just before halftime to move Wanderers above Liverpool into fifth place.
Former England fullback Stuart Pearce's first match as caretaker manager of Manchester City, following the resignation of Kevin Keegan, ended in a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur for whom Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane were on target.
Portsmouth and Newcastle shared the points, and nine yellow cards, in a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park.
- REUTERS
Soccer: Chelsea still on course for title
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