Manchester United's Paul Scholes (L) is challenged by Blackburn Rovers' Morten Gamst Pedersen during their English Premier League soccer match in Blackburn Sunday. – Reuters LONDON – Manchester United was held 0-0 by Blackburn to squander a chance to temporarily regain the Premier League leadership Sunday while Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final by beating Tottenham 2-0 a day after it was relegated from the English top flight. It turned out to be a good day for Chelsea, which stayed ahead of United in the league title race and then found out it would face Portsmouth – in financial administration and down at the foot of the Premier League standings – rather than fifth-place Tottenham in the May 15 Cup final. In one of the biggest shocks of the season, extra-time goals by Frederic Piquionne and Kevin-Prince Boateng gave cash-strapped Portsmouth victory in a dramatic semifinal at Wembley. While Portsmouth fans know their team will be playing in the League Championship next season, they also know they will be returning to Wembley where their team won the FA Cup two seasons ago, coincidentally under current Spurs coach Harry Redknapp. A victory would have put United a point ahead of Chelsea in the title race but Antonio Valencia and Dimitar Berbatov both missed chances at Ewood Park. Chelsea, which now leads the league by one point, has the chance to go four clear of United by beating Bolton at home Tuesday. Without 34-goal Wayne Rooney, who is sidelined with an ankle injury, United failed to dominate a mid-standings Blackburn side and its first clear chance did not come until just before halftime when Valencia broke clear only for Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson to block his shot. Berbatov had a good chance in the 80th minute when he was unmarked 15 meters out but shot straight at the ‘keeper. Three minutes later, the Bulgaria striker, whose inconsistent form has made him unpopular with many of the United fans, fired wide from the edge of the area. Manchester City strengthened its hold on fourth place with a 5-1 victory over Birmingham. Carlos Tevez stroked home a 38th-minute penalty and added a second when he touched in a header from Nedum Onuoha. Emmanuel Adebayor made it three before he and Onuoha scored further goals to move City on to 62 points from 33 games. Tottenham has 58 from 32. Without injured striker Fernando Torres, Liverpool was held 0-0 at home by Fulham to lose more ground on City in the race for fourth. Rafa Benitez's sixth-place team now has 56 points from 34 games, with Aston Villa next on 54 from 32. Wolves edged closer to safety with a 0-0 draw at home to mid-table Stoke and is now six points above the relegation zone with four games still to play. For manager Avram Grant, whose short reign at Pompey has been hampered by the cash crisis, transfer embargoes, points deductions and injuries to key players, it was a rare reason to smile. “We had the belief, we had the courage to come to this game to win this game,” Grant, who will now face Chelsea, the club that sacked him after he took them to the 2008 Champions League final, on May 15. – AP Premier League table P W D L F A Pts 1 Chelsea 33 23 5 5 84 30 74 2 Man. United 34 23 4 7 77 27 73 3 Arsenal 33 22 5 6 75 34 71 4 Man. City 33 17 11 5 69 41 62 5 Tottenham 32 17 7 8 58 32 58 6 Liverpool 34 16 8 10 54 33 56 7 Aston Villa 32 14 12 6 44 32 54 8 Everton 33 13 11 9 52 44 50 9 Birmingham 34 12 10 12 35 43 46 10 Stoke City 33 10 13 10 32 35 43 11 Blackburn 34 11 10 13 35 50 43 12 Fulham 33 11 9 13 35 37 42 13 Sunderland 34 9 11 14 44 52 38 14 Wanderers 34 8 9 17 28 51 33 15 Bolton 33 8 8 17 36 61 32 16 West Ham 34 7 10 17 41 57 31 17 Wigan 33 8 7 18 30 64 31 18 Burnley 34 7 6 21 36 72 27 19 Hull City 33 6 9 18 32 70 27 20 Portsmouth 33 6 5 22 28 60 14 __
