LONDON – Chelsea's kept up its dismal run of results with a 1-0 defeat at last-place Wolverhampton on Wednesday night, one of the Blues' most embarrassing defeats in the Premier League.
A fifth-minute own goal by Jose Bosingwa left defending champion Chelsea outside the Champions League qualifying places after two wins in its past nine matches. Bosingwa put Wolves ahead when he bundled a corner kick over his own goal line. Salomon Kalou missed a chance to equalize in the second half and Didier Drogba hit the crossbar.
Manchester City fell two points behind Premier League leader Manchester United with a 0-0 tie at third-place Arsenal, with Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott hitting posts for the Gunners. City's Pablo Zabaleta and Arsenal's Bacary Sagna were ejected in the final minute after shoving each other.
"The way we dominated the game is very positive," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "I feel we had more chances than you usually have in this type of game. They looked to me like they were set up not to lose. ... They came here to get a 0-0."
Chelsea (10-6-5), the early season leader, has just 10 points from its last 11 games. Manager Carlo Ancelotti had said he was in danger of being fired following a 3-3 tie with Aston Villa last weekend.
Manchester United (12-0-8) leads with 44 points, followed by Manchester City (12-4-6) with 42, Arsenal (12-5-4) with 40, Tottenham (10-5-6) with 36 and Chelsea with 35.
Tottenham lost 2-1 at Everton, with American goalkeeper Tim Howard helping the Toffees to the win behind goals from Louis Saha and Seamus Coleman. Rafael van der Vaart had tied the score for Spurs. Howard had a pair of brilliant successive saves, the first of a point-blank shot by Van der Vaart, then palming over a long drive by Peter Crouch.
Liverpool (7-9-4) is 12th following a 3-1 loss at Blackburn, with more chants from fans for manager Roy Hodgson to be fired.
West Ham lost 5-0 at Newcastle, and Wigan rallied for a 1-1 draw at Bolton. Aston Villa slipped into the relegation zone with a 1-0 loss to visiting Sunderland.
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BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Barcelona extended its unbeaten streak to 25 games, two short of the club record set in 1973-74, advancing to the quarterfinals of Spain's Copa del Rey with a 1-1 tie at Athletic Bilbao.
Eric Abidal scored his first goal for Barcelona and the second of his club career, running in from the left flank to score off a pass from Lionel Messi in the 76th minute. Fernando Llorente tied the score in the 85th, but Barcelona advanced on away goals. The teams tied 0-0 at Barcelona in the first leg last month.
"I didn't expect to score," Abidal said. "I help the team and when I have the chance I shoot. I got lucky."
Xavi Hernandez played his club-record 550th game for Barcelona, one more than defender Miguel Bernando from 1973-88.
Bilbao was trying to beat Barcelona in a knockout series for the first time in 50 years.
In other games, Sevilla won 3-0 at Malaga to advance on 8-3 aggregate, and Deportivo La Coruna defeated Cordoba 3-1 to advance 4-2.
Real Madrid travels to Levante on Thursday following an 8-0 win in the first leg, and Villarreal hosts to Valencia after a 0-0 draw in the first leg.
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