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Villa frustrates Manchester United

Chelsea, Liverpool held; Arsenal loses

LONDON: Manchester United missed the chance to close the gap on English Premier League football leader Chelsea as the champion was held to a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on Saturday.

In a game of few chances, the best fell to Ashley Young but the Villa winger twice missed and the home side also had a penalty claim rejected for Nemanja Vidic’s tug on Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Despite the incentive of Chelsea’s 0-0 draw against Newcastle earlier on Saturday, United was unusually subdued and Cristiano Ronaldo showed his frustration when he was substituted eight minutes from time, gesticulating to the crowd.

The result leaves United still eight points off top spot with a game on hand and in danger of surrendering its title.

Meanwhile, Arsenal crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City, deepening the crisis enveloping the club after captain William Gallas was dropped for revealing infighting and bemoaning the squad’s lack of fight.

While the Gunners’ fifth defeat of the Premier League season — and the second in a row — derails their fading title ambitions, pacesetters Chelsea and Liverpool were both held to 0-0 draws by Newcastle United and Fulham respectively. Arsene Wenger’s call to his young Arsenal stars to show its strength went unheeded, the team looking uneasy after Gallas’s explosive outbursts in an interview earlier in the week.

Grabbing the chance

Stephen Ireland put City ahead on the stroke of halftime, exploiting confusion in an Arsenal defence stripped of Gallas, whose future with the club now seems in jeopardy.

Gael Clichy and Mikael Silvestre collided as City striker Benjani Mwaruwari released Ireland to clip the ball over Manuel Almunia, who was made Arsenal captain for the afternoon. Arsenal fell further behind in the 56th minute when Brazil forward Robinho lobbed Almunia after latching onto Shaun Wright-Phillips’s throughball to clinch his ninth goal since joining City.

The results: Aston Villa 0 drew with Manchester United 0; Chelsea 0 drew with Newcastle United 0; Liverpool 0 drew with Fulham 0; Manchester City 3 (Ireland 45, Robinho 56, Sturridge 90-pen) bt Arsenal 0; Middlesbrough 1 (Pogatetz 77) lost to Bolton Wanderers 3 (Steinsson 8, Taylor 10, Elmander 78); Portsmouth 2 (Crouch 20, Johnson 63) drew with Hull City 2 (Turner 54, Pamarot 89-og); Stoke City 1 (Sidibe 84) bt West Bromwich Albion 0. — Agencies

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