LONDON - Chelsea motored eight points clear at the top of the Premier League yesterday after they beat Norwich City 3-1 and title rivals Manchester United stumbled to a 0-0 draw at 10-man Crystal Palace.
Champions Arsenal kept their slim title hopes alive after a Thierry Henry hat-trick gave them a 3-0 win over Portsmouth, though they remain 10 points adrift of the leaders.
Chelsea, who look destined for their first league title in 50 years, have 71 points and a game in hand over United (63 points) and Arsenal (61).
Asked if he thought they had now seen off United, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho told Sky Sports News: "We don't think about them, they think about us ... we just know that weekend after weekend we have to win our matches and control the gap."
Further down the table, Southampton improved their survival hopes with a 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur while Aston Villa and Newcastle United also enjoyed morale-boosting victories.
However, a turning point in the season was reached at Carrow Road, where Chelsea capitalised on United's slip at Selhurst Park and moved the newly crowned League Cup winners closer still to a second trophy in their centenary year.
Joe Cole rode two heavy tackles to fire Chelsea into a 22nd-minute lead and they were quick to rally after Leon Mackenzie's superb headed equaliser from a Darren Huckerby cross. It was their first goal conceded since a 2-2 draw with Arsenal on December 12.
Substitute striker Mateja Kezman followed up a Frank Lampard effort to tap in Chelsea's second goal and defender Ricardo Carvalho rose unchallenged to head the third from a corner.
The Champions League offered a potential distraction for Chelsea, United and Arsenal. All three trail before return legs against Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich respectively in midweek.
United, seeking a seventh successive league win, rested Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes at the start and were fuming after Roy Keane was denied in the first half by an offside flag against struggling Palace. Palace's task was made all the harder by the 64th-minute dismissal of Greek midfielder Vassilis Lakis but they held out thanks to determination, luck and poor United finishing.
At Highbury, Portsmouth's Nigerian forward Yakubu Aiyegbeni headed against the bar before France striker Henry settled a youthful Arsenal team's nerves after 39 minutes with his 20th league goal of the season.
He made it 2-0 eight minutes into the second half and completed his hat-trick with a trademark free kick that went in via the goalkeeper five minutes from the end.
Fourth-placed Everton, with 51 points, hosted Blackburn Rovers overnight and their hopes of clinching a Champions League qualifying spot were boosted when the two teams below them lost.
Liverpool remain eight points adrift of their neighbours in fifth spot after losing 1-0 to a spectacular Laurent Robert free kick at Newcastle. Sixth-placed Middlesbrough went down 2-0 at Aston Villa.
Nigel Quashie's second-half header gave third-from-bottom Southampton the points against Spurs. They are two points behind fourth-bottom Palace.
Top guns
Neither Chelsea nor Manchester United have a goalscorer anywhere near Arsenal's Thierry Henry.
And Andy Johnson continues to defy logic with his second placing despite Crystal Palace hovering above the relegation zone. He's scored more than half Palace's 32 goals.
* 22 - Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
* 18 - Andy Johnson (Crystal Palace)
* 11 - Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur)
* 10 - Robert Pires (Arsenal), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Middlesbrough), Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Portsmouth)
* 9 - Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Andy Cole (Fulham), Milan Baros (Liverpool), Paul Dickov (Blackburn Rovers), Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
- REUTERS
Soccer: Chelsea stretch their lead as United stumble
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