Nicklas Bendtner's last-gasp goal rescued a draw for Arsenal against Aston Villa as Manchester United closed to within a point of the leaders with victory over Fulham.

The Gunners have allowed a five-point lead at the summit to be whittled away in the space of eight days and they came within seconds of being knocked off the summit.

Philippe Senderos' own goal in the first half looked set to give Villa all three points before Bendtner struck with almost the last kick of the game.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men were simply too good for sorry Fulham, cruising to a routine Craven Cottage victory with efforts from Owen Hargreaves, Ji-sung Park and a Simon Davies own goal.

Chelsea shook off the disappointment of their Carling Cup defeat as they roared to victory over London rivals West Ham, despite the harsh dismissal of Frank Lampard on his return to Upton Park.

But Spurs were unable to follow-up their Wembley triumph as they were brought crashing back down to earth with a 4-1 defeat at Birmingham as Mikael Forssell grabbed a hat-trick.

A last-gasp goal from Matt Derbyshire heaped further pressure on Kevin Keegan as Newcastle were frustrated at St James' Park by an impressive goalkeeping display from Blackburn's Brad Friedel before being hit on the break.

James Harper grabbed a late winner as Reading finally ended their miserable run of eight Premier League defeats as they claimed three vital points from their trip to the Riverside to face Middlesbrough.

And Sunderland claimed only their third point of the season on their travels after their clash with Derby at Pride Park ended all square.

Arsenal were rescued by last-gasp goal from Nicklas Bendtner as Aston Villa claimed a point at Emirates Stadium and were within seconds of taking all three.

After dropping two points in last weekend's emotional draw at Birmingham where Eduardo da Silva suffered a badly broken leg, Arsene Wenger's men continue to falter in their pursuit of the title.

Gabriel Agbonlahor's stock continues to rise after he earned a yard of space against William Gallas before firing a low cross into the six-yard box which the hapless Senderos could only turn into his own net in the 27th minute.

With time rapidly running out, Bendtner pounced to fire home from close range after Emmanuel Adebayor had headed a deep cross back across the box.

Manchester United roared to within a point of the Premier League leaders as hapless Fulham were pushed closer to the relegation trapdoor at Craven Cottage.

Hargreaves curled a delightful free-kick from the edge of the box over the Fulham wall and beyond a helpless Antti Niemi for the opener in the 15th minute.

And an incisive passing move featuring Carlos Tevez, Nani and Paul Scholes ended with Park heading home the former England man's cross just before the interval.

The hapless Davies then poked the ball beyond Niemi for United's third as the Wales international attempted to clear John O'Shea's cut-back from the line.

Chelsea brushed aside talk of a crisis at Stamford Bridge as a clinical opening 22 minutes left West Ham out of sight.

Lampard opened the scoring from the spot (17) after Anton Ferdinand had brought down Salomon Kalou, before two of Grant's Carling Cup rejects proved a point to their manager in the best possible way.

Joe Cole was the first to make his mark, with a sublime low half-volley from the edge of the area from Anelka's knock-down giving Robert Green no chance at all.

Lampard turned provider as he crossed with the outside of his foot to Michael Ballack, who like Cole did not make it into the Wembley starting XI, to drive a crisp half-volley beyond a bemused Green.

England international Lampard then saw red on his return to Upton Park, harshly dismissed by referee Peter Walton after pushing Boa Morte with the Hammers forward equally as guilty but escaping any punishment as the pair tangled on the turf.

John Terry produced an astonishing clearance after the break as he got back to somehow hook Carlton Cole's lob off the line from under his own crossbar, before Ashley Cole fired home from a tight angle after Green had saved Joe Cole's shot.

A clinical hat-trick from Forssell secured three vital points in Birmingham's battle against relegation as they took advantage of a lacklustre display from Carling Cup winners Tottenham.

Juande Ramos may be regretting his decision to give his squad two days off to celebrate their Wembley triumph, as they were second best against a driven Blues team.

Forssell headed home an early opener from close range after James McFadden had drilled Liam Ridgewell's knock-down back across the six-yard box.

Sebastian Larsson (55) then curled home an excellent free-kick before Didier Zokora's attempted clearance forced Paul Robinson into a smart save with Forssell pouncing on the loose ball soon after.

And the Finn completed his treble in fine style nine minutes from time as he was set up by Larsson to dink the ball beyond Robinson with Jermaine Jenas' late reply mere consolation.

Matt Derbyshire struck in the last minute as Blackburn pushed sorry Newcastle to just three points above the drop zone.

A combination of poor home finishing and excellent goalkeeping from Brad Friedel left the Magpies frustrated at St James' Park as Michael Owen squandered two good opportunities to break the deadlock.

And a swift Rovers counter-attack in the closing stages saw David Bentley break and square to Derbyshire behind a non-existant home defence with the young striker coolly slotting home.

Reading remain in the bottom three despite ending their dismal run of eight successive defeats with a late victory against Middlesbrough at the Riverside.

Kevin Doyle had an effort ruled out in the first half as Howard Webb ruled Mark Schwarzer had been fouled, while Afonso Alves was unable to provide any Brazilian brilliance for Boro on his home league debut.

And it was left to James Harper to snatch the headlines as he slotted home in the 90th minute to the delight of Steve Coppell.

Derby finally reached double figures in their points tally for the season with a home stalemate against Sunderland.

Michael Chopra thought he had scored in the first period only to be denied by the linesman's flag as Roy Keane's side claimed only their third point on the road this term