Soccer: Chelsea win while Palace frustrate Man United

LONDON - Chelsea motored eight points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday after they beat Norwich City 3-1 and title rivals Manchester United stumbled to a 0-0 draw at 10-man Crystal Palace.

Champions Arsenal kept their slim title hopes alive after a Thierry Henry hat-trick gave them a 3-0 win over Portsmouth, though they remain 10 points adrift of the leaders.

Chelsea, who look destined for their first league title in 50 years, have 71 points and a game in hand over United (63 points) and Arsenal (61).

Asked if he thought they had now seen off United, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho told Sky Sports News: "We don't think about them, they think about us... we just know that weekend after weekend we have to win our matches and control the gap.

"Before this game it was six points, now it's eight and if we can make it nine points with a draw against West Brom (on March 15) or 11 points with a victory it would be great. "

Further down the table, Southampton improved their survival hopes with a 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur while Aston Villa and Newcastle United also enjoyed morale-boosting victories.

The Champions League offered a potential distraction for Chelsea, United and Arsenal. All three trail before return legs against Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich respectively in midweek.

United, seeking a seventh successive league win, rested Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes at the start and were fuming after Roy Keane was denied in the first half by an offside flag against struggling Palace.

United's frustration increased when Palace's Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly saved superbly from Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Palace's task was made all the harder by the 64th-minute dismissal of Greek midfielder Vassilis Lakis but they held out thanks to determination, luck and poor United finishing.

"It's a bad result for us," admitted United manager Alex Ferguson. "We've given ourselves a real mountain to climb. We've given a great advantage to Chelsea. "

At Highbury, Portsmouth's Nigerian forward Yakubu Aiyegbeni headed against the bar before France striker Henry settled a youthful Arsenal team's nerves after 39 minutes with his 20th league goal of the season.

He made it 2-0 eight minutes into the second half and completed his hat-trick with a trademark free kick that went in via the goalkeeper five minutes from the end.

Fourth-placed Everton, with 51 points, host Blackburn Rovers on Sunday and their hopes of clinching a Champions League qualifying spot were boosted when the two teams below them lost.

Liverpool remain eight points adrift of their neighbours in fifth spot after losing 1-0 to a spectacular Laurent Robert free kick at Newcastle. Sixth-placed Middlesbrough, with 42 points, went down 2-0 at Aston Villa.

Nigel Quashie's second-half header gave third-from-bottom Southampton the points against Spurs and the south-coast side are two points behind fourth-bottom Palace. Charlton Athletic drew 0-0 at London rivals Fulham.

- REUTERS