Chelsea leapfrog Arsenal in race to overhaul Red Devils

The Gunners had stormed into a 3-1 lead after Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie all struck in the first half, with Rafael van der Vaart notching for the home side.

But a 20-yard rocket shot from Tom Huddlestone before the break and a 70th-minute penalty from Van der Vaart ensured that Spurs picked up a point, meaning Arsenal dropped to third, six points behind league leaders Manchester United and adrift of Chelsea on goal difference.

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to leave out £50m record signing Fernando Torres paid off at Stamford Bridge as Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou fired the Blues up to second.

The champions beat Birmingham 3-1 to become Manchester United’s closest challengers, moving to within six points of the leaders and giving themselves a glimmer of hope of retaining their crown.

Once again looking far more comfortable in their tried-and-trusted 4-3-3 formation, Malouda and Kalou scored brilliant first-half goals, and the former struck again before Sebastian Larsson netted a consolation from the penalty spot.

Chelsea therefore capitalised on United’s failure to win at St James’ Park on Tuesday and, with a trip to Old Trafford to come, there is a slim chance they could yet snatch the title.

Realistically, though, they would need to win all their remaining games and, on the evidence of last night, their best chance of doing so would be sticking with Didier Drogba, Malouda and Kalou up front.

Arsenal manager Wenger, asked if he thought the title was heading to Old Trafford, said: “It’s not over...we’ll fight.

“In the second half we dropped physically because we had a difficult game on Sunday (at home to Liverpool). We’ve had two games in three days, our recovery was a bit short.

“We suffered physically in the second half and were very unfortunate to concede the penalty.

“Maybe the (Tottenham) second goal was decisive because we wanted to get to half-time with a two-goal lead, but we had an outstanding spirit and we have to keep battling to the last.

“Tottenham are a good team and we have to accept they can score goals as well.

“Both sides could have won the game but I didn’t see any failure in our attitude.

“We came here to score goals and played a team who are very good going forward. Huddlestone’s was an amazing goal.

“It was difficult to assess the penalty, I’ll have to see it again.”

Spurs defender Michael Dawson said: “After going 3-1 down we’ve got to be happy with that. We had a few chances in the second half and maybe could have won it, but credit to the lads for showing fire and determination.”