Chelsea blow it in title crunch

Chelsea's championship hopes virtually ended yesterday when Aston Villa beat them 3-2.

Claudio Ranieri came unstuck after making eight changes to his Chelsea team, leaving Arsenal needing only nine points from six games to regain the Premiership title.

Manchester United, six points behind Chelsea and with two games in hand in third place, play Leicester tonight.

Liverpool's hopes of Champions League football next season were hit as Shaun Bartlett gave Charlton their first League win at Anfield for 50 years. Alan Curbishley's side are now just two points behind Liverpool and Newcastle, vying for fourth spot.

'The season is still alive for everybody,' said Curbishley. 'This has kept us in touch. Villa won and they are still in it.'

Wolves slipped closer to the drop after a 2-1 defeat to Bolton and manager David Jones called referee Uriah Rennie 'arrogant' after his side had three penalty claims rejected.

Portsmouth, who beat Birmingham 3-1, and Blackburn, thanks to an amazing 4-3 win at Fulham, moved away from the bottom three. They join Manchester City, held 1-1 by Tottenham, on 34 points, three clear of Leeds.