Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the English Premier League table despite a 3-3 draw with Everton on Saturday after champions Manchester United suffered a shock 1-0 loss at home to Aston Villa.
The results left Chelsea three points in front of second-placed United.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men kicked off Saturday’s late match knowing Chelsea had already dropped points.
But they were undone when Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor headed in a cross from fellow England international Ashley Young in the 21st minute.
United striker Wayne Rooney hit the crossbar and late on visiting goalkeeper Brad Friedel saved from Dimitar Berbatov as Villa, winning at Old Trafford for the first time in 26 years, moved up into third place.
“Second-half we deserved something, first-half Villa played very well,” United manager Ferguson told ESPN. “We had chances, we just didn’t take any.
“But they (Villa) worked their socks off, you give them full credit for that,” Ferguson added.
Villa boss Martin O’Neill said: “We’ve got a fine set of young players coming in now and they are giving absolutely everything to the game and that’s all I can ask for.
“Just recently, we’ve tightened up a wee bit defensively and that has made a marked improvement.”
Everton went ahead at Stamford Bridge when Louis Saha’s header came off the post and hit Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech for a 12th-minute own goal.
But Didier Drogba, played in by Frank Lampard, levelled for Chelsea in the 18th minute with a shot from the edge of the box.
Fellow forward Nicolas Anelka gave Chelsea, beaten 2-1 by Manchester City last weekend, the lead with a well-taken finish in the 23rd minute.
But Everton fought back when substitute Aiyegbeni Yakubu made it 2-2 on the stroke of half-time.
Ivory Coast striker Drogba restored Chelsea’s lead by powering in his 18th goal in 20 games in all competitions this season in the 59th minute.
But minutes later Everton were level again when Drogba’s headed clearance hit Saha on the head and looped over Cech.
“We made some mistakes at set-plays,” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti told Sky Sports. “We lost a game against Aston Villa and then we worked on the set-plays and improved. Now we have to do the same.”
Everton manager David Moyes added: “To come here and get a draw was terrific. I thought we deserved it for our resilience and endeavour.”
Wolves climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win away to Tottenham, who missed out on the chance to go third.
Manchester City, reduced to 10 men, came back three times in a 3-3 draw with struggling Bolton while Birmingham beat West Ham 1-0.
Younes Kaboul’s stoppage-time equaliser gave bottom of the table Portsmouth a 1-1 draw away to Sunderland after Darren Bent had put the hosts ahead.
Elsewhere, Burnley and Fulham drew 1-1, Stoke and Wigan finished all square at 2-2 and Hull and Blackburn shared the points in a goalless draw.
Wigan went ahead through Emmerson Boyce’s early header but Tuncay Sanli brought the hosts level.
A sensational goal from Maynor Figueroa, who beat Sorensen with a perfectly-placed dipping strike from inside his own half, restored Wigan’s lead only for Ryan Shawcross to equalise moments later.
At White Hart Lane, Wolves clung on to a third-minute lead secured when Kevin Doyle turned in Nenad Milijas’s free-kick.
Arsenal, who started the weekend in third place, face Liverpool on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
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