Aston Villa and Arsenal's title hopes
suffered a blow as they were both held to goalless draws in the English Premier
League on Saturday, dpa reported.
Villa, who would have gone second with a win, drew 0-0 at home with Wigan,
while Arsenal, five points further back, were held 0-0 by London rivals West
Ham United.
Stoke City moved out of the bottom three by beating Manchester City, while West Brom remain bottom despite a 2-2 draw away to Hull City.
Villa dominated possession throughout, with substitute John Carew having a
fierce effort cleared off the line by Paul Scharner.
But Wigan held on for a point that leaves Villa still fourth, level on points
with Chelsea and Liverpool, having played a game more.
Arsenal, too, had the bulk of possession against West Ham, with James Collins
heading off the line from Kolo Toure and Abou Diaby having a header deflected
off the bar.
Arsene Wenger brought Robin van Persie off the bench in a bid for victory, but
they could not break down a stout West Ham defence.
James Beattie headed the only goal of the game in the fifth minute of
first-half injury time to give 10-man Stoke a 1-0 win over Manchester City.
Manchester City were given a one-man advantage when Rory Delap was sent off
on 38 minutes for a foul on Shaun Wright-Phillips and then kicking the ball at
the winger from point-blank range.
Wright-Phillips was lucky not to get at least a yellow card for a retaliatory
kick out at Delap, but Stoke scored against the run of play right on the
half-time whistle when Beattie scored a fine header at the far post.
Manchester City failed to make use of the advantage in the second half,
though, and Stoke held on for what could prove to be a crucial victory.
West Brom remain bottom on goal difference despite coming back to force a 2-2
draw at Hull City, while Middlesbrough and Blackburn, the other two sides in
the relegation zone, drew 0-0 at the Riverside.
Fulham moved up to ninth after a 3-1 win over Portsmouth, while Darren Bent
scored twice for Tottenham, only to see his side go down 3-2 at Bolton
Wanderers.
Later on Saturday, champions Manchester United, two points clear of Chelsea, Liverpool and Villa at the top, travel to Everton.
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