No stopping Chelsea as Birmingham hold Man. United

Chelsea extended their Premier League lead to 11 points after Joe Cole earned the champions a 1-0 win over Manchester City and rivals Manchester United were held 2-2 by Birmingham City yesterday.

European champions Liverpool ran out 3-1 winners over Everton, who finished with nine men, in the Merseyside derby to close within four points of United.

There were plenty of goals in London, where Arsenal crushed Port-smouth 4-0, Fulham drew 3-3 with Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic beat West Ham 2-0. West Bromwich Albion were surprise 2-0 winners over Tottenham Hotspur at the Hawthorns.

Chelsea, whose only league defeat last season came at the City of Manchester Stadium, had to wait until the 79th minute for the match-winner from their England midfielder.

United were twice in front against Birmingham through Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney but were pegged back for a draw which left them on 41 points, compared to Chelsea's 52, from 19 games.

Liverpool stay third but move on to 37 points from 17 games, three points ahead of both Spurs and Wigan.

Skipper Steven Gerrard was behind the early goals as European champions Liverpool took the spoils at Goodison Park.

Gerrard stooped to head the ball through Everton's defence and striker Peter Crouch galloped away to beat Nigel Martyn in the 11th minute. Gerrard smacked in Liverpool's second with a deflected shot from 25 metres shortly afterwards and Everton were no luckier in the 37th minute when James Beattie had a header disallowed.

That luck changed when Beattie headed home for real in a goalmouth melee, latching on to Simon Davies' overhead kick. But French striker Djibril Cisse sealed Liverpool's win, cutting in from the left for a fine solo goal. Everton lost midfielder Phil Neville to a 68th minute red card and Spaniard Mikel Arteta to another in stoppage time.

United's pursuit of Chelsea suffered an unexpected setback in a game where struggling Birmingham put on a battling performance.

Van Nistelrooy gave United an early lead, finishing off a move started by Paul Scholes with a close-range shot after being played in by Kieran Richardson's cross.

City levelled in the 19th minute when striker Emile Heskey laid the ball off for Jamie Clapham to hit a first time shot that struck keeper Edwin van der Sar on the way in.

Rooney put United back in front with a smart finish after the break, but Uruguayan Walter Pandiani poached a close-range equaliser in the 78th minute to earn Birmingham a precious point.

At Highbury, captain Thierry Henry made one and scored two as Arsenal romped home with four goals in the first half.

Two goals in two minutes just before half-time confirmed that Wigan's recent revival is on track.

Strike partners Jason Roberts and Henri Camara provided the goals and the assists for each other in the 44th and 45th minutes, Roberts getting the scoring underway.