Manchester United and Chelsea turned up the heat in the Premier League title race with thumping victories Saturday that left Arsenal struggling to hang on. Frank Lampard hit four goals for Chelsea in a 7-1 demolition of Aston Villa to put the Londoners briefly on top with 71 points before United responded with a 4-0 win in an evening game at Bolton Wanderers – Dimitar Berbatov scoring twice for the champions. United, chasing a record 19th top-flight title, has 72 points while Arsenal is third on 68 after Birmingham City netted in stoppage time to rescue a 1-1 home draw against the Gunners. Tottenham Hotspur strengthened their grip on fourth spot with a 2-0 home win against relegation-bound Portsmouth while West Ham United lost 1-0 at home to Stoke City, its sixth league defeat in succession. West Ham is out of the bottom three only on goal difference after Hull City matched them on 27 points with a 2-0 victory over Fulham. Wolverhampton Wanderers maintained their improved form with a 0-0 draw against Everton. United and Chelsea, who meet next week at Old Trafford, both rested players Saturday but even with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand having a day off, they produced performances worthy of champions. Lampard reached 151 goals for Chelsea to become the club's third-highest scorer of all time, two of his four strikes coming from the penalty spot. The England midfielder gave his side an early lead from Florent Malouda's low cross-cum-shot but Villa, Chelsea's FA Cup semifinal opponent next month, deservedly equalized through John Carew. Lampard restored Chelsea's lead shortly before halftime from the penalty spot after Yuri Zhirkov was brought down by James Collins and the second half was a romp for Carlo Ancelotti's side as it followed up its 5-0 defeat of Portsmouth in midweek. Malouda made it 3-1 just before the hour before Lampard completed his hat-trick, beating keeper Brad Friedel again with a spot kick after Zhirkov was once more fouled in the area. Lampard set up Malouda for Chelsea's fifth, Salomon Kalou made it six and Lampard struck again late on to chalk up his 100th league goal for the club. If Ancelotti had hoped for a favor from Bolton he was to be disappointed as the hosts gifted United the lead before falling apart in the second half. Bolton weathered an early storm and looked comfortable before defender JLloyd Samuel scored an own goal in the 38th minute. United rarely stumble once in front, especially when a title is up for grabs, and it raced clear after the break with Berbatov supplying two sharp finishes before Nani set up substitute Darron Gibson late on. Arsenal was left kicking itself as it surrendered two points at Birmingham. Samir Nasri's 81st-minute goal looked to have won it for the Gunners, who face Barcelona Tuesday in the Champions League, but Kevin Phillips ruined their journey home with a messy stoppage-time equalizer. – ReutersPremier League table P W D L F A Pts 1 Man. United 32 23 3 6 76 25 72 2 Chelsea 32 22 5 5 82 29 71 3 Arsenal 32 21 5 6 74 34 68 4 Tottenham 31 17 7 7 57 29 58 5 Man. City 30 14 11 5 55 39 53 6 Liverpool 31 15 6 10 50 32 51 7 Villa 31 13 12 6 43 32 51 8 Everton 32 13 10 9 50 42 49 9 Birmingham 32 12 9 11 33 37 45 10 Stoke City 31 9 12 10 30 35 39 11 Fulham 31 10 8 13 33 36 38 12 Blackburn 31 10 8 13 34 50 38 13 Sunderland 31 8 11 12 41 47 35 14 Wanderers 32 8 8 16 28 50 32 15 Bolton 32 8 8 16 36 60 32 16 Wigan 31 8 7 16 29 59 31 17 West Ham 32 6 9 17 38 55 27 18 Hull City 31 6 9 16 31 64 27 19 Burnley 31 6 6 19 31 64 24 20 Portsmouth 32 6 4 22 28 60 13 __
