LONDON: Arsenal gave its Premier League title hopes a much-needed boost Sunday by beating Blackpool 3-1 to keep pace with leader Manchester United. While the Gunners trail United by seven points, that gap would be reduced to a point by beating the 18-time champion and also winning their game in hand. In the win at Blackpool, Abou Diaby and Emmanuel Eboue gave Arsenal a two-goal lead at half time and Robin van Persie added another after Gary Taylor-Fletcher pulled one back for the home side. “Today was only three points and it could help us to keep a chance,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “We have promised ourselves to give everything until the end of the season. There are still seven games. It is a long time – there are many games.” In Sunday's other match, Aston Villa's relegation worries were eased by a 1-0 victory over Newcastle that put the team five points above the drop zone. In the Monday night match, Manchester City will try to keep its faint title hopes alive with a victory at Liverpool, but even then, the big-spending team would be 10 points behind rival United. Arsenal remains the biggest threat to United's bid for a record-breaking 19th league title. Arsenal's victoryon Sunday came despite Wenger being forced to start 41-year-old goalkeeper Jens Lehmann after Manuel Almunia injured his knee in the warmup. It was an unexpected 200th appearance in an Arsenal jersey for the German, who was coaxed out of retirement to provide emergency cover in the title run-in having left the club in 2008. Atletico blanks Sociedad Atletico Madrid beat Real Sociedad 3-0 Sunday to move into sixth place in the Spanish league. Filipe Luis opened the scoring from an excellent pass by Diego Costa in the 12th minute and Jose Antonio Reyes created Atletico's second for Mario Suarez to tap home in the 45th. Sergio Aguero sealed his team's second straight win on the counterattack in the 78th with his 13th goal of the season. The victory took the Madrid side to within one point of fifth-place Sevilla, while Sociedad is five points above the drop zone after its fifth consecutive loss. Also it was: Levante 1, Racing Santander 1; Sporting Gijon 1, Osasuna 0; Deportivo 0, Malaga 0; Espanyol 0, Hercules 0. Lionel Messi ensured Barcelona maintained its eight-point lead over Real Madrid ahead of next weekend's Clasico, scoring twice as the leader came back to beat basement side Almeria 3-1 Saturday. The World Player of the Year equalized with a penalty and settled the match in the last minute with his 29th league goal of the campaign, after Thiago Alcantara had put Barca 2-1 up in a nervous display at the Nou Camp. Real had put it under pressure by easing through a match that had been expected to be far tougher, when Kaka scored two penalties and set up Cristiano Ronaldo for a third at sixth-placed Bilbao. Leader Barca moved on to 84 points with seven games left to play. Sevilla climbed to fifth with 46, one ahead of Bilbao, after Ivan Rakitic scored a 68th-minute equalizer for a 2-2 draw at Real Mallorca.
