Manchester United wasted a glorious chance to catch Chelsea at the top of the Premier League when they lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Gabriel Agbonlahor's first-half header gave Villa their first league win at Old Trafford since 1983 and provided a huge boost to leaders Chelsea who had earlier been held 3-3 at home by Everton despite two goals from Didier Drogba.
Chelsea's defensive jitters continued as they dropped their first home points of the season and notched a fourth game without victory in all competitions -- a run which has seen Carlo Ancelotti's side leak 10 goals.
Chelsea have 37 points with United on 34 while Villa moved into third place with 29 points. Ancelotti was not unduly concerned by his side's defensive insecurity.
"Against APOEL Nicosia (a 2-2 draw in the Champions League on Tuesday) I was angry but not today," Ancelotti told reporters. "We played with intensity and good concentration for 90 minutes and created lots of chances. Sometimes it happens that you draw but when you play like we did you deserve to win."
Tottenham Hotspur spurned the chance to move into third spot above Arsenal, losing 1-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, their first home defeat by the Midlands club since 1973. Arsenal, who are nine points behind Chelsea with two games in hand, face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Sixth-placed Manchester City trailed three times at Bolton Wanderers but scraped a 3-3 draw, one of six in the Premier League on Saturday. Ivan Klasnic scored twice for Bolton while Carlos Tevez replied with a double for City who ended with 10 men after Craig Bellamy was shown a red card.
West Ham United fell into the relegation zone, losing 1-0 at in-form Birmingham City while Sunderland conceded late on in a 1-1 draw at home to bottom club Portsmouth, whose goalscorer Younes Kaboul was sent off for his celebrations.
Honduran Maynor Figueroa scored a contender for goal of the season, a stupendous free kick from inside his own half, in Wigan Athletic's 2-2 draw at Stoke City, Hull City drew 0-0 with Blackburn Rovers and Burnley were held 1-1 at home by Fulham.
A day of comedy defending at Chelsea began when keeper Petr Cech inadvertently gave Everton an early lead when an effort on goal rebounded off the post and back into the net off his body.
Chelsea responded with a burst of attacking power and were ahead by the 23rd minute, with goals from Nicolas Anelka and Drogba. But another lapse at the back allowed Yakubu to make it 2-2 on the stroke of halftime after a goalmouth scramble.
Drogba's volley, his 13th league goal of the season, soon after halftime put Chelsea back in front but the Ivory Coast striker had hand in Saha's equaliser when his clearing header rebounded off the Frenchman and past Cech.
