Home discomfort as United falls, Chelsea held
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Manchester United wasted a glorious chance to catch Chelsea at the top of the English Premier League, losing 0-1 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Gabriel Agbonlahor's header gave Villa its first league win at Old Trafford since 1983 and provided a welcome boost to Chelsea which had earlier been held 3-3 at home by Everton on a day of surprise results.
Chelsea's recent defensive fragility continued as it dropped its first home points of the season to extend its run of games without a win to four - a sequence which has seen Carlo Ancelotti's side leak 10 goals.
Tottenham Hotspur, which began the day in fourth place, was beaten 0-1 at home by Wolverhampton Wanderers, its first loss to the Midlands side at White Hart Lane since 1973.
Top-four hopeful Manchester City could only draw 3-3 at Bolton Wanderers with Carlos Tevez bagging two goals for City, which had Craig Bellamy sent off.
Chelsea has 37 points with United on 34 while Villa moved to third with 29 points. Arsenal, which was at Liverpool yesterday, has 28.
Villa's first win of any sort against United for 10 years was fully deserved and means that Martin O'Neill's side has beaten United and Chelsea already this season.
United was lacking invention and striker Michael Owen, left out despite a hat-trick against Wolfsburg in the Champions League, had few chances when he came on after the break as Villa clung on after Agbonlahor's 21st-minute effort.
"They worked their socks off and for that I give them full credit," United manager Alex Ferguson, who was infuriated by the lack of stoppage time added on, said after his side's fourth league defeat of the season.
While United's attack malfunctioned, Chelsea's problems stemmed from some comedy defending.
The Blues' troubles began as keeper Petr Cech inadvertently gave Everton an early lead when an effort on goal by Louis Saha rebounded off a post and into the net off his body.
Chelsea responded and was ahead by the 23rd with goals from Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba. Another lapse at the back allowed Yakubu to make it 2-2 just before halftime.
Drogba's volley, his 13th league goal of the season, soon after the restart put Chelsea back in front but the Ivory Coast striker had a hand in Saha's equalizer when his clearing header unluckily rebounded off the Frenchman and past Cech.
Elsewhere, it was: Stoke City 2, Wigan Athletic 2; Birmingham City 1, West Ham United 0; and Sunderland 1, Portsmouth 1.
