League: Arsenal below Blues

Arsenal are no longer United's closest challengers in the Barclays Premier League race, after the Gunners were held 3-3 by neighbours Tottenham and Chelsea beat Birmingham 3-1 to go second.

Carlo Ancelotti's side have responded well to their European exit at the hands of the Reds and were comfortable victors at Stamford Bridge. Florent Malouda scored twice and Salomon Kalou was also on the mark with Birmingham replying through a Sebastian Larsson penalty. With two more home games on the horizon, and a chance to beat United at Old Trafford, the west Londoners will feel they're still capable of retaining the title.
Arsenal were also 3-1 up at one stage in their thrilling derby with Tottenham at
White Hart Lane. They took an early lead through Theo Walcott, only for Rafael van der Vaart to draw Spurs level within a couple of minutes as a see-saw contest unfolded. Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie looked to have given Arsene Wenger's outfit a commanding lead going into half-time but Tom Huddlestone pulled one back on 44 minutes.
There was only one goal after the break but it could be a crucial one from United's point of view, Van der Vaart keeping his cool to convert a penalty for Tottenham after Aaron Lennon was fouled by Wojciech Szczesny. Although both sides had chances, it ended 3-3 to leave both Arsenal and Chelsea six points behind Sir Alex Ferguson's leaders with five games remaining.