A goal in the 89th minute from substitute Salomon Kalou earned Chelsea a precious 2-1 victory over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.
The last-gasp winner closes the gap on Manchester United to just three points, with the leaders hosting third-placed Arsenal at The Emirates on Sunday.
Tottenham took the lead in the first half when Brazilian midfielder Raniere Sandro fired an unstoppable half-volley past Petr Cech in the 19th minute. And the visitors looked as though they would take their lead into the second half.
But on the stroke of halftime, a dipping 25-yard shot from Frank Lampard wriggled through the legs of Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes before trickling towards the goal.
Gomes was quick to recover and looked to have stopped the ball from completely crossing the goal line with his fingertips. But the linesman thought otherwise and instructed referee Andre Mariner to award the goal.
Chelsea pushed hard for the winner in the second period without making the breakthrough -- Didier Drogba hit the crossbar from a free kick, Lampard went close with another long-range effort and a penalty claim was waved away when substitute Kalou -- on for Fernando Torres -- tangled with French defender Younes Kaboul.
It took another moment of controversy for the Blues to finally take the lead as Drogba's short pass found Kalou on the edge of the six-yard box, who then prodded the ball past a helpless Gomes.
TV replays suggested Kalou may have been marginally offside when Drogba passed the ball, but the goal stood setting up an increasing tense finale to the end of the Premier League season.
The defeat leaves Spurs unchanged in fifth place, but they now trail fourth place Manchester City -- who play West Ham tomorrow -- by four points.
Blackburn Rovers beat Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at Ewood Park to boost their chances of Premier League survival.
Swedish defender Martin Olsson 20th minute goal moves Blackburn up to 15th place above fellow strugglers Birmingham City who play Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Wigan remain in the relegation zone after Everton fought back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at the DW Stadium.
Charles N'Zogbia's 21st minute strike put Wigan ahead only to concede a penalty moments later at the other end when he brought down Leon Osman.
Mikel Arteta stepped up to take the spot kick but Wigan's keeper Ali Al Habsi made a spectacular save.
The Omani keeper was called into action again in the 78th minute Wigan's Hugo Rodallega hand-balled in the box.
But this time Leighton Baines made no mistake, firing the ball into the roof of the net to deny the Lactics all three points.
Blackpool remain in 17th place, level on points with Wigan after a 0-0 draw with FA Cup finalists Stoke City.
Fulham scored three goals for the second successive game to sink Sunderland 3-0 at the Stadium of Light.
French striker Gael Kakuta scored his first goal for the club in the 33rd minute with Simon Davies adding two more in the second half.
The win moves Fulham up to ninth with 45 points to snuff out any lingering doubts about relegation.
Ten-man West Bromwich Albion came from a goal behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 at the Hawthorns.
Villa were gifted the lead in the fourth minute when Ivory Coast defender Abdoulaye Meite turned the ball into his own net.
But Roy Hodgson's men battled on and were rewarded with an equalizer by Peter Odemwingie on the hour mark.
But three minutes later they were down to ten men as Austrian midfielder Paul Scharner was sent off for a second bookable offence.
But their resilience in defense was rewarded with a late winner Youssouf Mulumbu popped up to score the winner six minutes from time moving West Brom up to 11th place with 43 points -- two places and two points above Villa.
The last-gasp winner closes the gap on Manchester United to just three points, with the leaders hosting third-placed Arsenal at The Emirates on Sunday.
Tottenham took the lead in the first half when Brazilian midfielder Raniere Sandro fired an unstoppable half-volley past Petr Cech in the 19th minute. And the visitors looked as though they would take their lead into the second half.
But on the stroke of halftime, a dipping 25-yard shot from Frank Lampard wriggled through the legs of Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes before trickling towards the goal.
Gomes was quick to recover and looked to have stopped the ball from completely crossing the goal line with his fingertips. But the linesman thought otherwise and instructed referee Andre Mariner to award the goal.
Chelsea pushed hard for the winner in the second period without making the breakthrough -- Didier Drogba hit the crossbar from a free kick, Lampard went close with another long-range effort and a penalty claim was waved away when substitute Kalou -- on for Fernando Torres -- tangled with French defender Younes Kaboul.
It took another moment of controversy for the Blues to finally take the lead as Drogba's short pass found Kalou on the edge of the six-yard box, who then prodded the ball past a helpless Gomes.
TV replays suggested Kalou may have been marginally offside when Drogba passed the ball, but the goal stood setting up an increasing tense finale to the end of the Premier League season.
The defeat leaves Spurs unchanged in fifth place, but they now trail fourth place Manchester City -- who play West Ham tomorrow -- by four points.
Blackburn Rovers beat Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at Ewood Park to boost their chances of Premier League survival.
Swedish defender Martin Olsson 20th minute goal moves Blackburn up to 15th place above fellow strugglers Birmingham City who play Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Wigan remain in the relegation zone after Everton fought back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at the DW Stadium.
Charles N'Zogbia's 21st minute strike put Wigan ahead only to concede a penalty moments later at the other end when he brought down Leon Osman.
Mikel Arteta stepped up to take the spot kick but Wigan's keeper Ali Al Habsi made a spectacular save.
The Omani keeper was called into action again in the 78th minute Wigan's Hugo Rodallega hand-balled in the box.
But this time Leighton Baines made no mistake, firing the ball into the roof of the net to deny the Lactics all three points.
Blackpool remain in 17th place, level on points with Wigan after a 0-0 draw with FA Cup finalists Stoke City.
Fulham scored three goals for the second successive game to sink Sunderland 3-0 at the Stadium of Light.
French striker Gael Kakuta scored his first goal for the club in the 33rd minute with Simon Davies adding two more in the second half.
The win moves Fulham up to ninth with 45 points to snuff out any lingering doubts about relegation.
Ten-man West Bromwich Albion came from a goal behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 at the Hawthorns.
Villa were gifted the lead in the fourth minute when Ivory Coast defender Abdoulaye Meite turned the ball into his own net.
But Roy Hodgson's men battled on and were rewarded with an equalizer by Peter Odemwingie on the hour mark.
But three minutes later they were down to ten men as Austrian midfielder Paul Scharner was sent off for a second bookable offence.
But their resilience in defense was rewarded with a late winner Youssouf Mulumbu popped up to score the winner six minutes from time moving West Brom up to 11th place with 43 points -- two places and two points above Villa.
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