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Manchester United’s Daniel James is challenged by Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester United.
United manchester were frustrated by a controversial VAR penalty shootout in the 0-0 draw against Chelsea, while the revitalized Gareth Bale scored twice on Tottenham’s 4-0 defeat of Burnley on Sunday.
Runners-up United hoped to close the gap with Manchester City with a victory at Stamford Bridge.
But instead, they now sit 12 points behind the Premier League leaders as their title hopes fade after a four-game win streak.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is undefeated in nine games in all competitions since replacing fired Frank Lampard, but the deadlock was a blow to the challenge of his team’s top four.
The fifth-ranked Blues are one point behind fourth-ranked West Ham and four ahead of sixth-placed Liverpool, who visit Sheffield United in Sunday’s final game.
Neither side could claim that they deserved to win in a game with few clear chances.
The biggest talking point came in the first half when referee Stuart Attwell rejected United’s appeal for a penalty after he consulted the pitch monitor when Callum Hudson-Odoi appeared to be driving in a challenge with Mason Greenwood.
After five defeats in their previous six league games, Tottenham eased the pressure on José Mourinho with a significant contribution from Bale, who just made his third league start of the season.
The Welsh forward’s most impressive performance since his one-season loan from Real Madrid gave him four goals in his last four appearances.
Bale, who had faced Tottenham manager Mourinho over his physical condition in early February, took just 68 seconds to score with a close-range clinical shot from a Son Heung-min cross.
In the 15th minute, a superb long pass from Bale caught Harry Kane’s run and the England captain’s shot deflected James Tarkowski for his 22nd goal of the season.
Lucas Moura scored with a predatory shot after Sergio Reguilon’s cross was deflected into the Brazilian’s path by Tarkowski in the 31st minute.
Bale, in his second spell with Tottenham after leaving for Madrid in 2013, scored again with a brilliant pass from Son in the 55th minute.
Tottenham is in eighth place, six points behind the top four with one game in hand.
“Sometimes you (the media) like to say things that are not really true, but there is not a single coach in the world who does not play with Gareth Bale if Gareth Bale is in very good condition,” said Mourinho.
“There is not one, but now he is better than ever. It is not just about the two goals he scored, it is fundamentally about his physical performance.”
Arsenal beat Leicester
Arsenal dealt a serious blow to Leicester’s feeble hopes of winning the title with an impressive 3-1 victory.
Mikel Arteta’s side fell behind to Youri Tielemans’ opening goal at the King Power Stadium, but David Luiz equalized and Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty gave Arsenal the lead.
Nicolas Pepe’s second-half goal sealed the Gunners’ second victory in their last six league games and their first success for a Premier League top-three team since 2015.
Leicester remains in third place and follows City by 13 points with 12 games remaining.
After the shocking Europa League outing against Slavia Prague, it was a week to forget for Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers.
With Arsenal stuck in the middle of the table, Arteta has prioritized winning the Europa League as his team’s only hope of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Having chosen his best team for victory against Benfica in the last 32 return matches on Thursday, Arteta left Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka on the bench after the long journey back from neutral headquarters in Greece.
After the gamble paid off, Arteta said: “Going into this game I was worried. They are one of the most dangerous teams in the league to play once you fall behind against them.
“The reaction was tremendous, the team seemed really mature.”
Third-party Fulham are three points behind safety after a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace.
